The Past That Blinds
by AshRyder
Summary: Half elf, half dwarf, Chase A fighter 'til the end, never backs down from a fight and loves adventure. That's why when an old friend turns up and offers her a chance to take part in a dangerous adventure that could claim her life she couldn't possibly refuse? I posted this on Mibba ages ago, but decided to post it here too.
1. Chase

With a few grunts and groans the man's arm slams down upon the wooden table, toppling his mug of ale which splashes all over the table causing drips to start trickling to the wooden floor. Around the scene the crowd of spectators roared with laughter raising their mugs high, whooping and jeering at the fact that this overly-sized man could not beat a woman no taller than five foot was apparently hilarious. But, It's obvious that his size isn't muscle, his beer belly hangs out over his rope belt that holds his earthy brown trousers up. His arms flap around like small blubber wings under the short sleeves of the tan coloured shirt he wears. Opposite this man with bushy black beard and almost baled head I am sitting in total relaxation, grinning appreciatively at my opponent's flushed face and tense shoulders as even more bets were called over the crowd's heads.

"Again!" the man shouts across the table at me, spit flying from his mouth as his fist crashed to the tabletop with drunken frustration rumbling my mug of ale. "I let yer' win – I'll nee be so lenient 'dis time!" He puts his mug upright on the table then holds his arm back up as an open invitation for me to take another shot. I sigh in mock exhaustion picking up my mug to take a drink, wiping a stray hair from my face with the back of my wrist, then taking a gulp from my mug and wiping a slight dribble from my chin with my free hand.  
>"Maybe I should call it a night and be on my way? I don't think I'm up to the challenge." I play. A groan of disapproval comes from the crowd amid shouts of protestation.<br>"Listen here, lass! Yer' not leaving 'dis table 'til 'd round is up!"  
>"Well, if you insist"<br>And so I complied. Setting my elbow on the table stretching my fingers as I took the man's hand in mine once more. I hold back a grimace at his hand being slick with sweat, his face still flushed red with perspiration forming on his brow.  
>"Ready?" the young man refereeing the arm wrestling asked. I nodded firmly, never letting my stern glare falter as I stared at my opponent. "Now!"<br>My challenger pushes against my arm. For a moment I resisted, beads of sweat rolled from the man's face, and then I relaxed and let my arm slam into the table.  
>"It seems you were right after all," I said, and I lean back in my chair, taking a long drink from my mug, exhaling and now breathing again I look to my opponent who's face is burning red. "You're just too strong for me." I say infuriating him even more. The man springs to his feet with his teeth bared, sending his stool flying backwards. He stood looming over me for a long moment as loud chanting verses of encouragement reared up all through the tavern, most in my favor.<br>"Yer' din nee even try! Again!"  
>One of the crowd members, a fairly muscular man with long busy light rowan hair and beard to match, retrieves the man's stool and forced him to sit back down upon it. He did so with a huff and a puff. I tilted my head while circling the top of my mug with my finger and shrugged my shoulders in response.<br>"Very well" I said, seating myself properly once more. My lips curled into a grin with barely-hidden amusement as we positioned our arms for a third time.  
>The young referee gave the clue to start, and at first neither my arm nor that of my opponent moved even by an inch, but then the man's hand began to slowly get closer and closer to the table as I push against him until at last it crashed against the wood splashing in the spilled ale. I win.<p>

Within the explosion of cheers that followed I rose to my feet, downed what was left in my mug before placing it on the table the crowd cheering for me, I stretch my arms behind my lower back before I tap the referee on the shoulder as I walk past him. I proceed through the crowd with a cocky smirk on my face. The only reason I won this man is because I have the strength of both; dwarves and elves. But that story is a long one, one I shall not tell at this moment in time. I collect my winnings as I walk towards the door stopping about half way from it. I look back to my opponent; the man was still seated at the table frustrated that he has just been beaten, he grabs his mug and threw back his head only to find that just a few solitary drops remained. He slams it down on the table and pushes it away from him in frustration sending it flying.  
>"I'll tell you what. Have one on me," I called back to him, throwing him a coin that landed with a small clang on the table. I smirked as his face flushed with angry humiliation and the crowd cheered again, then carried on towards the door as I tie my pouch onto my belt, having my shoulder punched in a brotherly kind of way by one of the lads I pass. I push the door open into the chill night air.<br>It was entirely dark in the street save for the silver light of the moon and stars, and light escaping some windows from the tavern and nearby houses. It's all but quiet if not for the dry dirt crunching beneath my knee high fur boots as I made my way back towards where my horse is tethered. I sing softly to myself as I go, giggling a little at my merriment.  
>"Hey! Ho! To the bottle I go.<br>To heal my heart and drown my woe.  
>Rain may fall and wind may blow,<br>But there still be many miles to go–"  
>Suddenly I hear a louder crunch of dirt that had not come from me, and as I turn in surprise I abruptly find myself with my back to the ground with an intense throbbing pain in my temple and the feel of someone heavy on top of me. I manage to kick my attacker off myself only after he had succeeded in hitting me numerous times in the face and in the gut, punching the air right out of me. I scramble to my feet, ignoring the pain and the fact that blood was oozing down my face now.<br>"Yer' filthy cheat!" roared a voice which was slurred and violent. I recognize this voice before I recognize the face that rushes into the light from a nearby window - My drunken opponent from the tavern. By this time he had already rushed at me again and caused us both to topple once more to the floor in a tangle of limbs as we rolled around, kicking and punching each other, this continued on for a short while and although painful, I couldn't help but laugh at being in yet another drunken fight with another drunken opponent. We roll over and now I'm on top of him punching him while his hand is pulling my hair with his other hand around my throat.  
>"That is no way to treat a lady," rumbled a mysterious voice from ahead.<br>Both my opponent and I freeze, my left hand on his throat pushing him to the floor while my right fist was raised in preparation to break his nose.  
>I look up in front of me confused, I recognize the voice but not the shadowed figure a few feet before me.<br>In that brief moment the man beneath me pushed me off of him, and I landed on my back with a groan. I laugh out of amusement. I look to this mysterious man and he stepped forwards into my field of vision.  
>"Gandalf," I say surprised, one eye closed to stop blood dribbling into it.<br>The drunk rose, stumbling, to his feet nearly falling backwards in a few wobbly steps and staggered this way and that towards Gandalf, almost tripping over as he totters past me. I roll off my back and pull myself to my feet.  
>"I suggest you return to your home, before you get hurt," Gandalf said politely.<br>"Are yer' threatening me, old man?" my opponent slurred, jabbing a finger at Gandalf, teetering forwards and back on the spot. Hardly intimidating to a wizard.  
>"Oh no, I wouldn't dream of it."<br>"What are yer' going t' do? Beat me with yer' walking stick?" the man continued, as if hearing a completely different reply.  
>"You're going to get yourself hurt," Gandalf said seriously.<br>"Go on and try and hit me," the drunk said, apparently oblivious to the fact that Gandalf was in no way threatening him, opening his arms at his sides as an invitation to be hit.  
>"He won't," I say as I gripped his shoulder and spun him to face me. I punched him square in the face, so hard that the man's feet left the floor before he fully fell to the ground in a heap. "But I will."<br>I took a deep breath and met Gandalf's eyes with a small prideful smile, rather pleased with myself. Then I shook my right hand.  
>"Ow. That hurt more than I anticipated." I giggle<br>"Still getting yourself into trouble I see," Gandalf said with a disappointed look on his face while holding his staff with both hands, leaning against it.  
>"Well, I need to have something else to do other than drink." I say looking up at him<br>"And that is precisely why I am here. I believe I have something that may interest you – something other than gambling, drinking cheep ale from cheap taverns and getting yourself into fights."  
>"I contest that statement," I pause, pointing at Gandalf in mock outrage keeping a serious face. " ... It's hardly cheap in there – have you seen the prices?" I say with a smile, unable to be serious any longer.<br>Gandalf chuckled before he became serious. "Now It's a dangerous task–"  
>"I'm in." I say wide eyed "Let's go." I say before letting him continue. The very mention of danger and I'm in.<br>Gandalf raised his eyebrows either surprised at my recklessness or insulted that I didn't let him finish talking, I couldn't tell. I smirked, and then, slightly unsteadily, I began to once more walk towards my horse, my head spinning from, not the ale but the fight.  
>"Aren't you going to clean yourself up first?" Gandalf asked, as he followed casually.<br>"I can do that later." I say but planning on cleaning myself up once we've gotten to our mounts.  
>There is a short silence before he speaks again, and not sounding too pleased with me.<br>"You've changed. And not entirely for the best, I must say. 'Lady' Chase" he says with a slight bit of emphasis.  
>"It's been a long time since I've been called that, Gandalf" I state, the surprise of it slowed my walking speed down for a moment.<br>"No matter how many years you've spent living in the wild and roaming from town to town, drinking and fighting in taverns along the way, that is who you are, nothing can change that, you can't just run from it."  
>I refrain from replying not wanting to go any further into the matter, I put the past behind me.<br>We get to our steeds and I get a cloth out of my saddle bag and start wiping the blood off my face as Gandalf mounts his horse. After cleaning my face I splash it with water still dizzy from the pulsing in my forehead.

"So which way are we heading?" I ask, as I pull myself into the saddle after a number of failed attempts, one of which involved trying to mount the saddle backwards and another throwing myself off the complete other side. "You can tell me more about the quest on the way." I say starting my pony into a walk towards the edge of town.  
>"It's good to see you have not entirely changed. We are to go to The Shire."<br>"The Shire?" I muttered to myself, pausing with slight confusion in the motion of seizing the reins. "I thought you said this task was dangerous?" I say looking round to him  
>"It is," Gandalf said simply as he rode past me.<br>"But what's so threatening about Hobbits?" I asked. After a few moments thinking about the dangers of Hobbits, which I thought of none, I urged my pony into a slow trot in order to catch up with the wizard. He merely chuckled and walked on, with me following curiously behind.


	2. Meeting The Company

"So Gandalf, tell me about this quest," I say to the Wizard riding next to me on his light brown steed.  
>"Yes, well. You will be in the company of thirteen dwarves, they're quite a merry gathering actually. Very high spirited, yet they lack good manners, you'll get along with them just fine" He says with a smile, I can't help but chuckle a little. Just then a question pops into my mind<br>"Why must we travel to the shire if the quest involves dwarves?"  
>"The quest is to reclaim the Lonely Mountain," My mind automatically drifts off to a fiery scene, trees ablaze, people screaming and running for their lives. The stench of burning in the air, as black smoke clouds the sky and ash falling like rain. Horses whinny and snort in confusion and fright. The dragon's fire burns hotter than any fire created by man, or dwarf or elf.<br>"Erebor" I say softly staring into nothing.  
>"Yes. The dwarves who you will be accompanying, led by Thorin, seek to reclaim it from the Dragon Smaug. Now Smaug knows the scent of dwarf, but not of hobbit, we seek out a new companion in Hobbiton, a burglar, someone who can sneak around without being detected." Gandalf says<br>"But why do you need me, what use am I?" I look to Gandalf with a confused expression. He pulls back on his horses reigns, and I do the same stopping a little ahead looking back at him, he rides up beside my black horse looking me right in the eyes.  
>"This quest is the one you've been searching for all your life. Take up your rightful place in the halls of your kin. No more roaming from town to town getting into drunken tavern fights, no more searching for what your heart aches for. Erebor was where you were born, your rightful place. Your home. That is what your soul longs for, that is what you search for day by day"<br>I think for a short moment as Gandalf looks at me as if I'm about to turn and head for the nearest tavern. I look to the dirt road ahead, then behind me, I then look back to the wizard.  
>"So, to Hobbiton?" I say with a smile, and he chuckles with a huge grin plastered on his face and I set my horse off into a trot.<p>

By the time we arrive in Hobbiton at our destination night has already fallen. We ride up to a house with a lot of Dwarves standing around the door.  
>"I guess this is it" I say to myself as Gandalf dismounts.<br>I dismount and grab the reigns of both horses and Gandalf heads up to the house. I tie both horses to the tethering post next to food and water then follow after Gandalf. I go through the garden gate and as I walk up the stone steps to Gandalf. I notice the door open and all the dwarves previously at the door had fallen onto the floor inside. I see a young male hobbit looking rather fed up as I stand next to Gandalf. The dwarves quickly get back up and scramble inside, the hobbit following after the dwarves, Gandalf following the hobbit. I shrug and step forward into the door frame, reaching for the door to close it.  
>The dwarves are walking around bringing food from the pantry, and setting up a table, all the while the Hobbit, sounding rather frustrated keeps telling the dwarves to put everything back. I find Gandalf talking to himself and counting on his fingers.<br>"Gandalf, is everything alright?" I ask  
>"We appear to be one dwarf short" He replies<br>"He is late is all, he travelled north to a meeting of our kin, he will come" a bald darkly dressed dwarf with a bushy beard says then drinks from his mug of ale.  
>"Mr Gandalf" A voice comes from behind him. "A little glass of red wine as requested. It's got a fruity bouquet"<br>"Cheers" Gandalf says and drinks it, he then looks at his empty glass and seems disappointed. He then looks back to me, I have an amused smile on my face. He smiles back at me with a chuckle.  
>"Get an old wizard a mug of ale would you" He says still smiling<br>I nod and walk past him into where the table is being set up. Swerving past several dwarves and grabbing a couple of mugs as I did. I get to the keg where a blonde and dark haired dwarf stand drinking from their mugs, leaning on the ale keg. Both mugs in my right hand I put them under the tap and turn it, filling one then the other paying no attention to the dwarves.  
>"Fili" The blonde says, and I look up after turning the tap off.<br>"and Kili"  
>"At your service" They both say in unison, bowing as they spoke.<br>I incline my head acknowledging them with a small bow, a mug now in each hand.  
>"A pleasure to make your acquaintance. If you'll excuse me" I say turning around, walking away before either could say another word.<br>I find Gandalf where I left him and hand him a mug.  
>"Thank you. Now, let us introduce you to the company, shall we" He says putting his hand on the back of my neck as we walk to were all the dwarves are congregating.<p> 


	3. The Journey Begins

We all start talking, joking and laughing as food is still being placed on the table, I take a drink from the mug of ale in my left hand while I grab a bread roll from Oin as he passes with a plate of them and with the same hand I start pointing to each dwarf as I see them. "Oin, Gloin, Balin, Dwalin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori, Ori." I say as they walk in and out of the room bringing food in from the pantry placing it on the table. "And Fili and Kili. I've already met" I finish saying pointing to the two still stood at the keg of ale. I bite into the bread roll. They all cheer because I've actually remembered their names without any confusion. I take another drink from my mug as I too laugh a little.  
>"So lass, what is your name?" Balin asks<br>"Chase" I say after swallowing the food in my mouth. I see his facial expression change for a second. He must have seen me notice because he soon smiled again.

We've all now sat down to eat and food is being thrown everywhere. Dwarves are laughing and talking amongst themselves reaching into the bowls and plates of food on the table, taking what they want. I'm sat between Oin and Gandalf I get passed a plate of food and pass it onto Gandalf who hands it to the next dwarf.  
>"Bombur catch" Bofur says across the table before throwing some food - seemingly a hard boiled egg - through the air, which Bombur catches in his mouth causing cheers from all, some of the company bashing the table with their fists in merriment. I notice that behind Bofur the hobbit doesn't look happy as he fidgets where he's stood before turning to look at his now empty pantry.<br>"Who wants an ale?" Fili asks now walking over the table with a mug in each hand.  
>"Here you go" He says handing one to myself.<br>Dwalin pours ale down Oin's hearing pipe and everyone laughs as Oin blows the liquid out of the pipe that makes a wheezing noise causing more laughing.  
>"And on the count of three" I hear someone say as everyone put their mugs together. "One… Two… Three" They all go silent and chug down their ale, spilling it down the side of their faces and down their beards as they do so. They stop drinking and look around silently until someone burps causing everyone to laugh. Then Ori stands up and burps for longer causing more laughter.<br>"Chase, you and I" Fili says sitting back down after filling his ale, starting a game of who can drink the fastest  
>"And I" Kili says sitting down after also filling his mug.<br>I look at my drink and then at them with a playful smile on my face. They just look at me with smiles, waiting for my answer.  
>"Alright, let's do it" I say and everyone cheers.<br>"Ready, One… Two… Three" Bofur counts down.  
>All three of us drink at the same speed and slam our mugs down on the table at the same time, we look at each other equally matched and we all burst into laughter. I turn to Gandalf.<br>"Wasn't your plan to stop this kind of behaviour from me?" I ask with a smile. He just smiles back amused.  
>The table is almost clean of food, some dwarves have gotten up and are wandering around Bilbo's house. I sit sideways on my chair, legs hanging over one of the arms, leaning on the other drinking another ale. Gandalf gets up and walks into the kitchen. I get up and walk towards the hallway and I lean against the wall in the archway when I see Gandalf and the hobbit walk out from the kitchen.<br>"-They've pillaged the pantry, I'm not even going to tell you what they've done in the bathroom, they've all but destroyed the plumbing" The hobbit says stopping walking, turning to face Gandalf. I can't help but chuckle at his plumbing comment. "I don't understand what they're doing in my house" he says sounding frustrated. Ori walks past me with his plate in hand and goes right over to Bilbo.  
>"Excuse me, but what should I do with my plate" Ori asks the hobbit just looks backwards and forwards between him and the plate unsure what to say. "Here you go Ori, give it to me." Fili says walking through a doorway taking the plate and looking towards the kitchen where Kili has just appeared smoking a pipe, behind Gandalf, he throws the plate to Kili causing the wizard to have to suddenly move to one side. The dwarf catches it and throws it into the kitchen followed by more plates being thrown from the table somehow missing me.<br>"Excuse me, that's my mother's west farthing bottle, it's over one hundred years old" The hobbit says worrying the dwarves are going to break something I stand in the hallway out of the way of the flying plates but where I can see everything going on, grinning in amusement.  
>The dwarves at the table start tapping cutlery on the remaining lot of plates on the table and each other's knives and forks as if dueling.<br>"And can you not do that, you'll blunt them" Bilbo says  
>Now all the dwarves at the table are stomping their feet on the floor in unison,<br>"Ohh, D'ya hear that lads, he says we'll blunt the knives" Bofur says as the dwarves continue to duel and throw plates.

"Blunt the knives, bend the forks" Kili starts singing, catching my attention.  
>"Smash the bottles and burn the corks" Fili also sings, getting thrown yet another plate, flipping it on his elbow into the air over his head and onto his other elbow, then up into the air before catching it in his hand and throwing it to Kili.<br>"Chip the glasses and crack the plates!" The rest of the dwarves join in singing  
>"That's what Bilbo Baggins hates" They bang on the table with the cutlery.<br>"Cut the cloth and tread on the fat, leave the bones on the bedroom mat" They start throwing lots of dishes to Ori which piles up into a tower of plates and bowls. I finish my ale and put my now empty mug on the top of the tower as Ori takes them into the dining room walking past me.  
>"Pour the milk on the pantry floor. Splash the wine on every door" Dwalin head butts a bowl to Nori who taps it with his head, then lets it drop and kicks it off to the side with his ankle.<br>"Dump the crocks in a boiling bawl, pound them up with a thumping pole, and when you've finished, if any are whole, send them down the hall to roll" They all sing while dancing around clearing the table of plates and Bombur eats any leftover food. Plates are being slid and rolled down the table to Balin who - using another plate tosses them over his shoulder and Kili dances around catching one after the other. Gandalf blows a smoke ring and plates fly through it and he chuckles. Bofur plays his flute, elbowing a couple of plates to another dwarf who catches them. A few plates are thrown in my direction, I catch one and Kili appears behind me catching the other two, he throws one to Fili and I throw mine up in the air for him to catch, he spins around throwing the other plate in the same direction as the previous one then catches the one I threw before dancing off, pulling me with him throwing the plate to Fili. All the bowls and plates now stacked up on the kitchen table, clean, and in one piece not a single item broken and everyone has a mug of ale.  
>"That's what Bilbo Baggins hates" They stop singing and start laughing, a few mentioning the look of surprise on the hobbit's face seeing that nothing was broken.<p> 


	4. Second Thoughts

We're all just standing around laughing and talking when a thumping knock came upon the door. Everyone stopped talking and laughing and looked towards where the sound came. There is a short pause of silence before Gandalf speaks  
>"He is here" Everyone went to the door standing around the hallway I stood behind everyone as the wizard opened the door to reveal one whose face I hadn't seen for sixty years, one whom I knew straight away. The son of Thráin, the dwarf prince - Thorin.<br>"Gandalf" he says waiting outside the door for a moment before walking inside "I thought you said this place would be easy to find. I lost my way - twice. I wouldn't have found it at all had in not been for that mark on the door" He nods to his comrades as he takes his cloak off and drapes it over his arm and they bow their heads in return.  
>"Mark?" Bilbo asks squeezing past some dwarves "There is no mark on that door it was painted a week ago" Bilbo says as Gandalf closes the door<br>"There is a mark, I put it there myself" Gandalf states "Bilbo Baggins. Allow me to introduce the leader of our company, Thorin Oakenshield" Thorin and Bilbo face each other.  
>"So, this is the hobbit?" He says "Tell me Mr. Baggins have you done much fighting" Thorin circles the hobbit<br>"Pardon me?"  
>"Axe or sword what's your weapon of choice?" Thorin stands in front of Bilbo again<br>"Well I do have some skill at conkers if you must know. But I fail to see why that's relevant"  
>"Thought as much" Thorin crosses his arms seeming disappointed. "He looks more like a grocer than a burglar" his comrades laugh at his comment. "And the other one?" Thorin asks as he turns to walk through the archway where his men have parted for him when he notices me stood directly in front of him.<br>"What is she doing here?" Thorin asks displeased.  
>"She's here for the same reason you all are" Gandalf replies<br>"She's half elf-" he says sounding infuriated  
>"She is also half dwarf" Gandalf states calmly<br>"No, I will not have her accompanying us on this quest" He turns fast to face Gandalf and slightly looks over his shoulder at me.  
>"I am heading for Erebor whether you allow me to accompany you and your comraids or not. I will travel there myself if I must. I need you not, to find my own way home" I say fairly irritated, but I can't deny I knew this would happen.<br>"I will not be held accountable for your safety. War is no place for women, you'll only slow us down."  
>"I am the only one to be held accountable for my own safety. In sixty years I have learned how to fight for and defend myself, do not belittle me in thinking I need somebody to watch over me like a child."<br>"She will be a valuable ally, you'll need all the help you can get." Gandalf reasons with him but neither of us remove our gaze from the other  
>"We do not have time for this." Thorin walks past me and everyone just stares unsure what to do before following after their leader. I just linger there a little longer now looking at the floor not moving as a feeling of dismay washes over me, and I wish I hadn't agreed to take up this venture. Everyone is sitting around the dining table dimly lit by candles as I walk in I hear them talking.<br>"-With us?" Dwalin asks  
>"They will not come." Thorin replies, looking around at his comrades and noticing me as I walk in, giving me a glare, I just look back with a defiant stare before he continues talking.<br>"They say this quest is ours, and ours alone"  
>"You're going on a quest" The hobbit asks appearing behind Gandalf.<br>"Bilbo, my dear fellow, let us have a little more light" The wizard says. Bilbo complies as Gandalf reaches for something in his pocket. "Far to the east, over ranges and rivers. Beyond woodlands and wastelands" He says as he unfolds a piece of paper and places it on the table. I move closer to get a better look. "Lies a single solitary peak" Bilbo comes back with a candle and looks at a map reading from it.  
>"The Lonely Mountain"<br>"Aye, Oin has read the portents, and the portents say It is time" Gloin says "Ravens have been seen flying back to the mountain, as it was foretold. When the birds of old return to Erebor, the reign of the beast will end" Oin says  
>"Uh...what beast?" The hobbit asks standing just outside the outside the room<br>"Well that would be a reference to Smaug the terrible, chiefest and greatest calamity of our age. Airborne fire breather, teeth like razors, claws like meat hooks… Extremely fond of precious metals." Bofur explains  
>"Yes, I know what a dragon is." Bilbo replies<br>"I'm not afraid, I'm up for it. I'll give him a taste of the dwarfish iron right up his jacksy!" Ori says standing up  
>"Sit down." Dori pulls him back to his seat<br>"The task would be difficult enough with an army behind us. But we number just thirteen, and not thirteen of the best, nor brightest." Balin says  
>"Hey! Who you're calling dim!" Ori protests Fili thumps his hand on the table.<br>"We may be few in number. But we're fighters. All of us! To the last dwarf!" he declares, again thumping the table.  
>"And you forget we have a wizard in our company, Gandalf will have killed hundreds of dragons in his time." Kili assumes<br>"Oh, well no, uh, I- I wouldn't say-" Gandalf stammers  
>"How many then?" Dori asks<br>"What?" the wizard asks taken off guard  
>"Well, how many dragons have you killed?" Gandalf starts coughing while smoking<br>"The matter at hand is not how many dragons Gandalf has killed" I state walking towards where the wizard is sitting.  
>"Go on, give us a number!" Dori pushes. The dwarves erupt into arguing standing from where they sit.<br>"Uh... S'cuse me- Please, please." The Hobbit tries speaking over the arguing  
>"Shazara!" Thorin shouts for silence over the noise of the arguing dwarves as he stands up. The rabble silence and sit back down "If we have read these signs, do you not think others will have read them too? Rumors have begun to spread. The dragon Smaug has not been seen for 60 years. Eyes look East to the mountain, assessing, wondering, weighing the risk. Perhaps the vast wealth of our people now lies unprotected. Do we sit back while others claim what is rightfully ours? Or do we seize this chance to take back Erebor?! Du Bekâr! Du Bekâr!" To Arms, To Arms! Cheers erupt from the dwarves.<br>"You forget the front gate is sealed. There is no way into the mountain." Balin states  
>"That, my dear Balin, is not entirely true." Gandalf says revealing a key.<br>"How came you by this?" Thorin asks  
>"It was given to me by your father, By Thráin for safekeeping. It is yours now." Gandalf says handing the key to Thorin.<br>"If there is a key... there must be a door!" Fili says  
>"These runes speak of a hidden passage to the lower halls." Gandalf says<br>"There's another way in." Kili states  
>"Well, if we can find it, but dwarf doors are invisible when closed. The answer lies hidden somewhere in this map, and I do not have the skill to find it, but...there are others in Middle-Earth who can. The task I have in mind will require a great deal of stealth, and no small amount of courage. But if we're careful and clever, I believe that it can be done." Gandalf says<br>"That's why we need a burglar." Oin says  
>"Hmm. And a good one too. An expert, I would imagine." The hobbit says<br>"And are you?" Gloin asks Bilbo The hobbit looks behind himself, then realizes he was asked the question  
>"Am I what?"<br>"He said he's an expert!" Oin says  
>"Me? No. No, no, no, no. I- I'm not a burglar. I've never stolen a thing in my life." Bilbo replies<br>"And I'm afraid I have to agree with Mr. Baggins. He's hardly burglar material." Balin says  
>"Aye, the wild is no place for gentle folk who can neither fight nor fend for themselves." Dwalin agrees The dwarves begin arguing once more.<br>"Enough! If I say Bilbo Baggins is a burglar, then a burglar he is." Gandalf says standing up.  
>"Hobbits are remarkably light on their feet. They can pass unseen by most if they so choose to" I say in defence of Gandalf.<br>"Yes, exactly. And while the dragon is accustomed to the smell of a dwarf, the scent of a hobbit is all but unknown to him, which gives us a distinct advantage." He faces Thorin and continues speaking while returning to a seated position. "You asked me to find you two more members of this company, and I have chosen Mr. Baggins as one of them." He looks around at all the dwarves "There's a lot more to him than his appearances suggest. And he's got a great deal more to offer than any of you know... including himself." He directs the last sentence at the hobbit before facing Thorin once more  
>"And what about her?" Thorin directs at me, with a harsh glare causing all the other dwarves to look at me.<br>"One more blade against a dragon, if the beast yet lives" I say simply  
>"You must trust me on this." The wizard says Thorin looks directly at Gandalf for a short moment before sighing.<br>"Very well... We'll do it your way." The hobbit starts protesting I automatically wish I was in a tavern, I'd most likely end up in a fight but at least I wouldn't have to put up with degrading comments and distrust.  
>"Give them a contract."<br>"We're in" Bofur says delighted "We're off!"  
>"It's just the usual: summary about the pocket expenses... time required, remuneration, funeral arrangements, so forth." Balin explains. Thorin takes the contract and passes it over his shoulder to the hobbit.<br>"Funeral arrangements?" Bilbo asks Balin then hands another contract to me, which I reach and take looking a little perturbed.  
>"The same entails" He says. I nod acknowledging what he said. I walk a little away from the table and start reading through the contract.<p>

"I can not guarantee their safety," I hear Thorin say quietly I stop reading but keep my gaze on the contract. "Understood" Gandalf says in the same quiet tone "Nor will I be responsible for their fate" Thorin continued "Agreed" Gandalf accepts

"total is cash on delivery up to but not exceeding one fourteenth of total profit if any. The present company shall not be liable for injuries inflicted by or sustained as a consequence thereof, including, but not limited to... lacerations... evisceration? Incineration?" I hear the hobbit say aloud  
>"Oh, aye, he'll melt the flesh off your bones in the blink of an eye." Bofur explains. I look up to see everyone looking at the hobbit who looks a little panicked.<br>"You alright, laddie?" Balin asks  
>"Huh? Yeah, I fe-" The hobbit breathes out "Feel a bit faint." He replies<br>"Think furnace, with wings." Bofur tries to calm Bilbo, but I fail to see how his explanations would help.  
>"I- I- I need air" "Flash of light, searing pain, and poof! You're nothing more than a pile of ash!"<br>"No-" The hobbit faints  
>"Oh, very helpful, Bofur." Gandalf says statistically<p> 


	5. A New Dawn, A New Day

"Gandalf. I can't do this" I say to the wizard who is waiting for the hobbit to wake.  
>"And what makes you say that?" He asks<br>"It's just… Have you seen the way he looks at me… Or… Or heard how little he thinks of me. I didn't agree to come on this quest to be… Belittled! For something-" I say pacing backwards and forwards.  
>"Calm yourself Chase."<br>I take a deep breath and sit down.  
>"Gandalf, If I wanted this kind of treatment I would've stayed roaming towns and drinking in taverns. Wandering… Alone… " I rest my head in my hands "But I came…" I look up again "I wanted to help… I wanted to find my place... Where I belong." I stand up "But it appears this isn't it." I speak a lot calmer and head for the doorway.<br>"Since when did you give up so easily?" Gandalf asks seriously. I stand quietly thinking to myself. "Since when did you listen to what anybody thought of you?" He stands up and walks over to me  
>I look at Gandalf with a serious expression on my face.<br>"I don't… But he's not just anybody." I say then walk out of the room turning around the corner almost bumping into the dwarf prince himself stopping us both in our tracks. We both look at each other silently for a short time before I continue walking to find an empty part of the house. All the rooms in the house seem to have a dwarf or two in them so I go to the front door and just lean my arm on the door and rest my head on my arm and as I look at the door handle I contemplate leaving. But shortly after the thought I decide against it because of another thought I get. 'Gandalf is right, since when do I give up, or listen to what anyone thinks of me, no matter who they are.' I push off the door and go to find ink and quill to sign the contract. On the way I bump into the hobbit.  
>"Bilbo, how are you feeling?" I ask<br>"I'm not going on this quest if that's what you mean" He says calmly  
>"I don't mean that" I state<br>"Well I'm fine, thank you"  
>"Mr Baggins, if it's because you're worried that you'll get hurt, have no fear, I will protect you." He just looks at me for a moment. "I swear on my life I will make sure you come back home. In one piece, no burns, not a side dish for a dragon." I smile "The world is indeed full of peril Master Baggins and in it there are many dark places. But it is up to you how you choose to face the darkness and perils of this world."<br>He looks to the floor then back to me.  
>"I'm sorry, I can't do it." He says then hesitates before walking a few steps, hesitating a second time before walkingoff.<p>

I walk around the house looking for Gandalf when I hear a deep humming sound. I turn a corner and see all the dwarves standing around the hearth, around a burning fire. I turn about to walk down the next hallway.  
>"Far over, the misty mountains cold," Thorin starts to sing stopping me in my tracks so I turn back around and lean on the frame.<br>"To dungeons deep, and caverns old,  
>We must away, ere break of day" The others start standing up<br>"To find our long forgotten gold," The rest join in the song and I turn around and lean my back on the frame  
>"The pines were roaring on the height,<br>The winds were moaning in the night  
>The fire was red, it flaming spread<br>The trees like torches blazed with light" They stop singing but continue humming for a short while more. The song stirs memories deep inside me that have long been buried, and others that haunt my every dream. Silence falls and all that can be heard is the crackling of the fire. I head off again in search of Gandalf. I only get a few steps - to the next hallway and look down it to see Gandalf sat outside where all the dwarves are. I walk towards him and he notices me as I walk up to him on his left, he stands up both of us with plain looks on our faces. I hand him the contract and he looks at where the signature goes then turns to face me and smiles.  
>"You knew I'd sign it, didn't you?" I ask quietly<br>"I never had a doubt" he replies in the same tone  
>The company start coming out of the room, as Balin comes out Gandalf grabs his attention by calling his name.<br>"Gandalf, how can I help you?" he asks  
>The wizard hands the contract to Balin who gets an eye glass out of his pocket and looks at my signature.<br>"Welcome to the company, Lady Chase"  
>"Ci vilui." I say in Elvish "Thank you" I repeat so he understands. He smiles and continues walking.<br>Fili and Kili then walk through the archway  
>"I trust you'll be accompanying us" Kili enquires.<br>"I will be, can't leave you two unsupervised." I joke with them "In fact, I'm surprised anyone even wants me to join the quest"  
>"Just because our uncle shows dislike to you does not mean the rest of us share his opinion" Fili states. I bow my head, and they do the same in return before leaving, I turn back to Gandalf.<br>"Best get some rest, we leave at first light." He says to me.


	6. Tales of Battles Past

Carrying my saddle and saddle bags in the early light of the morning, the dwarves walking around sorting out their supplies and everything else they'll need while chatting amongst themselves.  
>"I wouldn't be surprised if our burglar doesn't turn up" I hear one of the dwarves say behind me as I carry my saddle to my pony.<br>"Well, I think he will show, In fact, I wager ten - No - twenty gold coins on him showing up" I say with a smile on my face turning around to face Dwalin talking to Nori.  
>"And I'll match that" Fili says walking up behind me<br>"Aye, as will I" Oin says "Nori, take the wagers"  
>I get a pouch of coins out of my saddlebag, having to hold the saddle in one arm, and throw the coins to Nori who catches it. I smile again and turn and head for my mount and saddle him, who whinnies playfully.<br>"You're in a good mood today Fearlóf" I say and he nudges me with his snout slightly. "Here you go" I say getting a carrot out of my pocket and giving it to him.  
>"Saddle up" I hear Thorin say to the company. I step on the stirrup and I'm about to pull myself up when a pair of hands grab my leg and start pushing me up, one hand replacing to the bottom of my boot as another pair of hands grab my waist. When I'm seated on the saddle I see Gandalf laughing on his horse in front of me, I then look to my right to see Fili and Kili smiling brightly in amusement. Even Fearlóf whinnied and danced around a little bit as if he was laughing at me.<br>"Alright, what are you two up to?" I ask with a smile and a questioning look.  
>"Up to" Fili says<br>"Us?" Kili asks  
>Both smiling as they turn and walk away leaving me confused and amused. I shake my head a little before I notice Thorin walking in my direction. "You had better not slow us down" he says not looking at me as he walks past me to his pony. Fearlóf whips his tail irritated at the comment and I pat his neck.<br>We ride in almost silence as a few of the dwarves talk amongst themselves as we ride through a forest, I sit in silence in my own thoughts wondering if this is going to be worth all the hassle I'll most likely get from Thorin on the way when a shout of "Wait!" breaks my train of thought.  
>"Wait!" the voice calls again from behind, I stop Fearlóf and Myrtle - the horse I was in charge of leading, and I turn to see Bilbo running to catch up to us. The dwarves holt their ponies and turn to look at the hobbit running towards Balin contract flying in the wind. I smile and lean on my knee with my elbow.<br>He holds the contract up so everyone can see it "I signed it." He says with a weary smile on his face then goes over and hands it to Balin.  
>"Everything appears to be in order." Balin says with a smile "Welcome, master Baggins... to the company of Thorin Oakenshield." A few of the dwarves cheer slightly as smiles, probably wondering what he's let himself in for.<br>"Give him a pony." Thorin says from up at the front of the group causing the hobbit to look at him fairly horrified.  
>"No, no no no. That- that won't be necessary. I can-" he starts protesting again as we start moving on. I continue to look at him as the two brothers ride up besides him "I am sure I can keep up on foot, yeah, I- I've done my fair share of...walking holidays, you know, even got as far as the Frog Morton once-" He then gets pulled up by Fili and Kili on either side of him causing him to yell and placed on Myrtle's back. While still moving I tie the leading rope into reigns and pass them to Bilbo.<br>"Hold them like this" I say and show him while looking at him over my right shoulder. He holds them about right while frowning Myrtle whinnies and throws her head back causing Bilbo's face to contort a little amusing me to the point of a giggle. "That'll do" I say still giggling. Soon enough he gets used to riding and relaxes. Gandalf has slowed down now and is besides Bilbo on his right  
>"Come on Nori. pay up!" Oin says from behind us<br>Nori throws a pouch of coins to Oin from in front of us  
>"One more." Fili says and he too gets thrown a pouch<br>"What's that about?" Bilbo asks  
>"Oh they took wagers... on whether or not you would turn up." Gandalf says and I get thrown my pouch causing Bilbo to look at me slightly surprised, seemingly he knew I started it. "Most of them bet that you wouldn't." I say<br>"And what did you think?" Bilbo turns his gaze back to Gandalf  
>Gandalf hesitates to answer until a pouch is thrown his way. "My dear fellow...I never doubted you for a second." Gandalf smiles putting his pouch in his bag when the hobbit sneezes and sniffs.<br>"Oh it's horsehair… Having a reaction." He starts to say while rooting in his pockets for something.  
>"Uh...Wait, wait. Stop! … Stop! We have to turn around." Bilbo says causing the company to stop. I look at him bemused .<br>"What on earth is the matter?" Gandalf asks  
>"I forgot my handkerchief." He says<br>"Here!" Bofur says ripping some leathery material and throwing it to the hobbit who catches it and holds it as if it's something unpleasant "Use this." Bofur smiles  
>"Move on!" Thorin automatically speaks<br>I look in my bag realizing I have a bit of spare cloth.  
>"Bilbo" I say getting his attention as he is still wondering what to do with the material. He looks to me with a surprised expression as If I'm going to give him a lecture "Here" I say handing him the white cloth.<br>"Oh, thank you" he says taking it and automatically using it.  
>"You'll have to manage without pocket handkerchiefs, and a good many other things, Bilbo Baggins, before we reach our journey's end. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire. But home is now behind you. The world is ahead." Gandalf says<br>We journey past winding rivers, down thin rocky paths, over plains and through forests.  
>Night is now falling and we stop to set up camp overlooking a deep jagged ravine. A fire is set and food is being made. Everyone is either sat quietly, moving around or conversing with each other all sat around the fire. But while they're getting their food and eating I choose to sit further away from the group looking over the other side of the ravine, a constant feeling we're being watched with unfriendly intentions. After eating, most set out their bed rolls close to the fire and then turn in for the night. Fili and Kili sit in a small alcove in the rock keeping watch. Gandalf sits against a tree smoking his pipe and Thorin sits leaning against a rock.<br>Most of the dwarves have now fallen asleep including the hobbit, Gandalf is still smoking at the tree and Fili and Thorin seem to have nodded of where they sat, all that can be heard is snoring from some and the fire crackling, I lay my bed roll down away from the other dwarves and since I do not feel tired I unsheathe my blade and start swinging it around as if practicing until I hear screams somewhere in the distance, but not human screams. I stop mid swing upon hearing the noise.  
>"What was that?" I hear the hobbit say, causing me to look around, I never even realized he had gotten up until he spoke.<br>"Orcs." Kili replies  
>"Orcs?" Bilbo asks scuttling back towards the campfire, I start to walk towards the fire and Thorin wakes from his nap upon hearing another scream.<br>"Throat cutters. There'd be dozens of them out there." Fili continues from his sibling. I stand opposite them behind the fire my blade still drawn.  
>"The low lands are crawling with them. They strike, in the wee small hours, when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet, no screams. Just lots of blood." The brothers joke, unnerving the hobbit.<br>"You think that's funny?" Thorin asks not amused now wandering around "You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?"  
>"We didn't mean anything by it." Kili says hanging his head, he didn't mean to cause offence.<br>"No you didn't. You know nothing of the world." Thorin walks off towards the ponies. I walk over to the young dwarf and lift his chin up with a friendly smile, before I could offer him some comforting words Balin speaks.  
>"Don't mind him, laddie. Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs."I stand up and lean against the wall, holding the pommel of my blade in front of me resting the tip of my sword on the ground "After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria. But our enemy had got' there first. Moria had been taken by legions of orcs, led by the most vile of all their race... Azog... the Defiler." As Balin told the story I could imagine it as if I was there "The giant Gundabad orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began... by beheading the king. Thráin, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief, he went missing, taken prisoner or killed, we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat... and death... were upon us. That is when... I saw him. A young dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe. His armor rent, wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield. Azog the Defiler learned that day, that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied, and drove the orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated... but there was no feast, nor song that night... for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few, had survived... and I thought to myself then... there is one... who I could follow... there is one... I could call king." By this time everyone was awake and had heard the story, they all stood looking at their leader. It was then that I understood all of his hatred and anger, he went from having everything, to nothing, his home had been taken, his family were slain - grandfather, father younger brother. And most of his people were lost.<br>"And the Pale Orc?" Bilbo asks "What happened to him?"  
>Thorin started walking back towards the camp "He slunk back into the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago." He vanished from sight. I notice Balin look at Gandalf with an 'I'm not so sure' look on his face.<br>I went back to my roll and started practicing again, not too long after a questioning voice came from behind.  
>"Why do you stay so far from the group?" Kili asks I lower my blade and turn around to face him.<br>"Because I doubt Thorin would really want a half-breed… A half elf… Near his kin" he nods his head understanding. "Half elf or not I bet I could still beat you in a fight" He says lightening the mood  
>"Is that so?" I ask with a smirk<br>He draws his sword and we stand and stare for a short while before he makes the first move. He swipes his blade towards mine and I parried the blow by hitting the sword vertically. He spins around clockwise and goes for a downwards side swipe which I block in front of my face. The sudden clanging of weapons caused the group to react by grabbing for theirs, but noticing the smiles on our faces they relaxed again. I push his blade away from me and he spins again for another sideswipe, this time counterclockwise, I duck and attempt my own sideswipe but get parried by him hitting my blade vertically. Now with a few spectators Fili, Bilbo, Bofur, Dwalin, Balin and Ori, some shouting support for Kili and others for me as this gets more serious and fast paced, that is until he lunges at me and I dodge to the side a little bit and trap his arm between mine and my waist and hold my blade near his throat smiling, both of us are out of breath and panting heavily, he looks a bit shocked at the blade in front of him until he looks at my face and starts to chuckle slightly and I release him. "No more swords, just melee. Let's see how quick I can beat you" he says smiling, sheathing his sword. I stick mine in the ground and move away from it. I look at our spectators and past Bilbo I see Thorin just out of everyone's view, I look back to Kili and get ready.  
>We start to circle around, slightly crouched ready to lock up with each other. We go for each other and lock up, he pushes me backwards and down but I manage to get my foot wedged on a small rock and push him back. He trips me up and we end up rolling over multiple times until he is on top, I kick him over my head and we get up and lock again. The rest were going back to sleep or doing something else. Kili pushes me down again and I roll us both over so I'm in control of the wrestle but he does the same. I roll over again and manage to get him in a headlock, but he soon gets out of that and kicks me away slightly. I turn around to be met by another lock up, this time I end up on my back on the floor after rolling around in the grass with Kili sat on my abdomen, not letting me up and grinning widely.<br>"Everyone get some rest" Thorin says, Kili looks up from me and looks forward. I look backwards - turning everything upside down, and I see Thorin, stood looking directly at us. Balin and Dwalin turn around automatically "Kili, Fili, Ori, Bofur" he starts calling them away. "You as well master Baggins" They all leave as I get helped up by Kili before he goes scampering off.  
>I grab my sword and sheath it, then take my belt off and sit on my roll about to settle down.<br>"Gloin, take the first watch" I hear Thorin say, his voice sounding like it's getting closer to me.  
>"It'd be wise for you to sleep closer to the rest of the group" I look back at him over my left shoulder.<br>"It appears there is no room" I say not really wanting to move closer. He just keeps giving me the same plain expression as he always does before heading off towards his sleeping mat. I don't even feel tired, either I'm on edge too much or I'm not used to sleeping without ale, but whatever it is it's keeping me awake. I manage to get a few hours of sleep in, waking up a few times during the night but mostly going back to sleep while staring at the moon.


	7. Burglarhobbit!

After being up most of the night and not eating yesterday today is already starting to feel rough, I just hope the entire journey isn't like this. But thankfully it started to rain quite heavy, the cool water keeping me awake. I sit in a daydream for the most of today, the only thing I remember hearing was Dori complain about the weather and Bilbo and Gandalf conversing about wizards, learning that there are five others somewhere in Middle-Earth, one that was most talked about amongst them was Radagast The Brown, he was said to love animals more than anything and looks after the vast forest lands to the east.  
>We come out of the forest to a hill with an old destroyed house just ahead "We'll camp here for the night. Fili, Kili, look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them." Thorin says dismounting. Gandalf dismounted a lot sooner than anyone and is now at the ruined house. As I dismount I twist my right ankle on part of the rocky terrain that was hidden under the fairly long grass. I grip onto the saddle to keep myself stood up<br>"Oin, Gloin"  
>"Aye?" Oin says upon hearing his name<br>"Get a fire going."  
>"I think it would be wiser to move on." Gandalf says as Thorin walks closer to him and they seem to be having a heated conversation, before Gandalf starts walking off looking fairly irritated.<br>"Gandalf, where are you going?" I hear Bilbo ask  
>"To seek the company of the only one around here who's got any sense." The wizard replies<br>"And who's that?"  
>"Myself, mister Baggins!" he almost shouts walking in my direction<br>"I've had enough of dwarves for one day." He mumbles as he passes  
>"Come on Bombur, we're hungry." Thorin says sounding fed up "Elf. Make yourself useful" he starts to walk back to the group.<br>"What would you have me do?" I ask politely  
>"Gather wood for the fire" he replies dismally<br>I curse under my breath at my stupid question and I take my cloak off and hang it over the saddle before I head for the forest, trying to hide my limp.

I get yet another armful of fire wood before heading back, my limping has stopped now and my ankle is just numb.

I put the wood down in a pile near the fire, but not too near.  
>"He's been a long time." Bilbo says, I turn around and look around, no Gandalf still.<br>"Who?" Bofur asks as he's dishing food out.  
>"Gandalf."<br>"He's a wizard! He does as he chooses." He states "Here. Do us a favor, take this to the lads." He hands Bilbo two bowls and the hobbit heads off towards Fili and Kili who are watching the ponies still. I turn around about to head back off into the forest for more wood.  
>"Oi, where ye' going?" Bofur asks<br>"For more fire wood" I say simply turning to look at him.  
>"Sit down, ye've got plenty. Ya' won't do that limp any good if ya' keep walking on it"<p>

I reluctantly do as he says and go and head over to Fearlóf. I get a red apple out of my saddle bag which is on the floor next to the saddle that's placed on a rock. I go over to him and pat him on the neck as I sit down leaning against him.  
>"Here you go boy" I say and give him the apple, he eats it and whinnies, then he softly nudges the side of my cheek with his snout. My ankle twinges and I react by holding it in both hands, even through my boots it feels swollen. I stand up and go and sit on my saddle so I can stretch my leg out. I end up sitting there silently seething at myself, I asked a stupid question and it was noticed that I'd injured myself - however slight. More reasons for the company to think I'm useless. I just sit there in silence looking out for any sign of trouble.<p>

"You look like yer' expectin' an attack." Bofur says from behind me, I turn and look at him confused.  
>"Yer' holding yer' sword pretty tight" he says motioning with his head to my hand gripping my sword which I didn't even realize.<br>"I didn't even realize I was holding it" He chuckles a bit .  
>"Here you go." He hands me a bowl. I nod thanking him and taking it.<br>"Is everything alright lass?" Bofur asks sitting down a serious look now on his face.  
>I nod, not wishing to share my thoughts.<br>"If this is about Thorin, he's been a bit grouchy since Gandalf left but ye' shouldn't need to take it to heart"  
>"It's not that I take it to heart Bofur. I just want-" I exhale loudly in a poor excuse of a laugh "I want you all to trust me" I say<br>"Most of us do lass, it's just Thorin who doesn't. We just need to prove he can" he says  
>"Yeah" I laugh a little unsure "And how are we going to do that?" I ask in a jokey way<br>"We'll think o' something." He says and stands up with a smile. "Eat. I've got a feeling ye' didn't eat yesterday and yer' going to need yer' strength." He says before walking off.

I eat what I assume is Rabbit stew and I decide to go to find Bilbo who I think must be lost in the forest since he's not back yet.  
>"Bilbo" I shout walking backwards a few steps while turning around, thankfully my ankle isn't too bad anymore. It hurts a little bit to walk on it but I'm not limping now which is a good thing. I move round a tree when I see a line of trees torn up and pushed over.<br>"What happened here?" I ask myself.  
>I follow the path of destruction stealthily, ducking under and jumping over branches that are in my way. I then see a couple of ponies, they're some of the companies ponies and I wonder where Fili and Kili are, but I had a thought, did whatever cause this destruction take the brothers. I hope not, Thorin will have my head if I tell him. But then, up ahead I see fire light and as I get closer I hear voices.<br>"I'm a burglar- Ahh- Hobbit" I hear Bilbo's voice  
>"A 'burglarobbit'?" I hear someone say.<br>"Can we cook him?" asks another voice.  
>"We can try!" comes a third, I move into a position where<br>I can see, Bilbo is surrounded by three trolls.  
>"He wouldn't make more than a mouthful. Not when he's skinned and boned!" One says pushing Bilbo into the middle of the trio with a spoon, only to face a troll's knife.<br>"P'raps there's more burglarobbit 'round these parts, might be enough for a pie!" the troll pushes the hobbit around again and Bilbo starts to run as they try to catch him.  
>"Grab him" I run in to help the hobbit.<br>"He's too quick" He's still running around and dodging them they're too slow to catch him. "look there's another one"  
>"Ahh, come here, you little..." One of the trolls grab Bilbo by the legs "Gotcha!" I run over to help the hobbit with my sword drawn but my left leg gets grabbed, surprising me causing me to drop my sword. I cross my arms over my chest making sure my tunic doesn't fall too far and show too much skin.<br>"Are there any more of you little fellas hiding where you shouldn't?" I get asked while being held upside down by my ankle.  
>"No." Bilbo answers plainly.<br>"He's lying!" One troll states  
>"No I'm not" The hobbit replies all too quickly.<br>"Hold his toes over the fire. Make him squeal!"  
>"If you hurt that hobbit I will have your heads on spears" I shout annoyed. The trolls laugh<br>"Put. The Hobbit. Down" I say trying to reach my boot  
>A troll screams in pain causing me to look in the direction of the scream. I see Kili attack one of the trolls and it falls over yelping. 'what are you doing?' I think to myself before another thought pops into my head wondering where the others are and they're probably going to think I can't even take care of myself. Kili swings his sword around at his side and smiles smugly.<br>"Drop them!" he says  
>"What? Drop?" I say to myself before looking to the floor<br>"Drop? Is that the best you can come up with?" I ask Kili with a pointed look to the floor.  
>"You what?" the troll holding onto Bilbo says and the trolls laugh.<br>"I said... Drop them." Kili repeats  
>I manage to reach up and get my knife from my free boot and stab the trolls' hand causing him to let me go. Instead of landing on my back I manage to just land on my feet facing Kili who has just caught Bilbo after the troll threw him. Thorin followed by all the dwarves come running out of the trees shouting with their weapons drawn and start to attack the trolls<br>I spot my sword about two meters away and roll to get it just in time because I would've been stood on. I start attacking the troll closest to me with Dwalin on my left as we both fight one troll. As we're fighting I trip over a vine and the troll goes to grab me but Bofur hammers the trolls foot causing it to yelp and then he helps me up, we exchange nods before getting back to fighting I fight a different troll now slicing and stabbing the thick skinned creature. The trolls move around so do all of us, it's almost like a dance gone bad with dwarves running around swapping partners - in this case the trolls.  
>Now back to the troll I was fighting with Balin - now with Nori and Bofur attacking it and Dwalin attacking another one, the troll turns its back as the back of its legs get sliced and I put my weapons away and pick up a vine from off the floor and jump up onto its back and use the vine as reigns. The toll tries to swipe me off but fails hitting the other trolls instead. I suddenly get picked up off the troll and thrown. Someone catches me in a strong safe grip around my waist and abdomen and we both fall to the floor my back to his front. I'm grateful for the soft landing but upon realizing who it was I would have rather been thrown into a tree.<br>"Find the hobbit and get out of here before you both get hurt" I hear Thorin say below me, there was something different in his voice this time, he almost sounded like he cared. Never the less I roll my eyes and roll off of him and go to find Bilbo, I find him hiding behind a barrel and I go over to him, dodging trolls legs so I don't get trampled on.  
>"Bilbo, you've got to get out of here." A troll stumbles in our direction, so I quickly unsheathe my sword and attack it causing it to stumble the other way. "Get back to the camp" I say worried about my little friend.<br>Dwarves are being kicked into the air, picked up and thrown, trolls yelping and roaring as they're sliced and hammered.  
>"What are you going to do?" he asks<br>"Do what I do best" I say with a small smile before getting my knife and jumping over the barrel and back into the fight .  
>One of the trolls wander off and I go to help when I get kicked backwards into the group of dwarves that have now stopped fighting realizing Bilbo's been caught.<br>Balin and Oin help me up  
>"Bilbo!" Kili shouts, about to run forward and attack the trolls.<br>"No!" Thorin stops him before he can.  
>"Lay down your arms! Or we'll rip his off!" The troll says, Bilbo looks absolutely terrified.<br>Thorin, irritated, stabs his sword into the ground and we all put our weapons down


	8. We Don't Have Parasites!

One by one our hands get tied and most of the group are stripped to their underclothes and tied to a spit which is then placed over the fire held up by two larger logs. The rest of us - Fili, Kili, Bombur, Oin, Balin, Bilbo and Thorin, get placed in sacks and get dumped on top of each other, Fili ends up rolling off the pile of dwarves and is now face down in the dirt and I get dumped down on top of Thorin, who grunts. I'm now on his lap. All of us are fidgeting trying to get out of the sacks.  
>"Oh, get your knee out of my back, would you" I grumble, wriggling to get Thorin's knee away from my spine<br>"So much for the legendary courtesy of the elves"  
>If he makes one more elf remark… "Those elves didn't have a knee lodged against their spine, or get put in a sack and dropped on top of an arrogant dwarf" I almost yell trying to wriggle off of him.<br>"I'm not happy about the situation either, but do you mind not wriggling." He says sounding a little in pain. More logs get put on the fire and the dwarves tied above it start shouting about the heat.  
>"Don't bother cooking 'em! Best to sit on 'em, and... Squash 'em into jelly!" One troll says<br>"They should be salted and grilled with a sprinkle of sage." Another replies  
>"That does sound quite nice."<br>"If you want to grill anyone grill this one" I say elbowing Thorin in the gut slightly "he enjoys grilling people when they're only trying to help, why not show him how it feels" disbelieving looks and sounds are heard and seen from some of the other dwarves and he gives me a 'that's not funny' look as I slowly look at the fire.  
>"Oh… Will you two stop arguing" Gloin says<br>"We wouldn't even be in this situation if not for you" Thorin continues as if the previous comments weren't heard.  
>"Oh, you can not blame this on me-" I snap my head back to face him<br>"Wait!" Bilbo shouts stopping our argument, I look to the hobbit as he stands up.  
>"You are making a terrible mistake." He's talking to the trolls<br>"Bilbo… What are you doing?" I ask  
>"You can't reason with them, they're half- wits!" Dori states as he's being turned around the spit<br>"Half- wits? What does that make us?" Bofur asks  
>"I meant with the, uh, with the- with the seasoning." Bilbo says<br>"What... about the seasoning?" A troll asks coming closer to the hobbit  
>"Well, have you smelt them? You're gonna need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up!"<br>We all exclaim in protest at the hobbit and he hops away from us in his sack.  
>"What do you know about cooking dwarf?" the troll turning the spit asks<br>"Shut up, and let the, uh, flurgerburburhobbit talk."  
>"Uh, the- the secret to cooking dwarf, is umm" Bilbo starts<br>"Yes? Come on," The troll keeps pressuring him to answer  
>"It's, uh,"<br>"tell us the secret?!"  
>"Ye- yes, the damn thing is- the secret is... tooooo... skin them first!"<br>"What?!" I yell and other dwarves grunt and shout at the hobbit and wriggle around in their sacks,  
>"Tom, get me filleting knife." The troll Bilbo is talking to says motioning with his hand for his knife<br>"I'll get you, you little-" Gloin says  
>"I won't forget that, I won't forget t-" Balin says pointing his finger at the hobbit as he goes round on the spit.<br>With Thorin's wriggling and my own I manage to get off of his lap and end up on my side facing away from everyone, I wriggle onto my back and sit up.  
>"What a load of rubbish" That's when I see Gandalf sneaking through the bushes behind the trolls who are arguing how to eat us. Then I realize, he's only stalling them, not betraying us "I've eaten plenty with their skins on. Scoff 'em I say, boots and all!"<br>"He's right!" one troll stomps over to us in a pile "Nothing wrong with a bit o' raw dwarf." He picks up Bombur and holds him in the air about to eat him "Nice and crunchy.  
>"Uh no, not- not that one, he - he's infected!" Bilbo blurts<br>"You what?" The grumpy troll asks  
>"Yeah he's got worms in his... tubes."<br>"Ewww" The troll drops Bombur onto Oin, Gloin and Kili  
>"In- in fact, they all have. They're infested with parasites, it's a terrible business, I wouldn't risk it, I really wouldn't."<br>"Parasite, did he say parasite?" Oin asks Kili who nods in response  
>"But we don't have parasites! You have parasites." Kili shouts<br>"He's stalling them" I whisper to Thorin before standing up and hopping over to the hobbit  
>I hear a slight thud and the company's attitude to having parasites changes.<br>"I've got parasites as big as my arm!" Oin says  
>"Mine are the biggest parasites, I've got huge parasites!" Kili says in an almost childish way<br>"We're riddled!" another dwarf says "Yes, I'm riddled!" and another "Yes we are, badly!" and another  
>"It's true, it's contagious, it started with just one, then it spread. It killed the last troll who ate the last five members of our company."I look down in mock sadness "Poor Oln, Roli, Gert, Gret and Noli" I say softly, making up names<br>"What would you have us do then? Let 'em all go?" Grumpy troll walks over to us  
>"Well..."<br>"You think I don't know what you're up to. This little ferret... and the squirrel… is taking us for fools!" He pokes us both in turn before walking back to the spit and continues to turn it  
>"Ferret?" Bilbo asks<br>"Squirrel?!" I protest and hear a few chuckles coming from behind. I look behind slowly with narrowed eyes and Kili stops looking at his uncle and sees me glaring at him and puts on a straight face.  
>"Fools?"<br>"The dawn will take you all!" Gandalf says, I look to where the voice came from and I see the wizard come out from the bushes and stand on a flat surface of rock where the sunrise can just be seen behind him  
>"Who's that?" one troll asks<br>"No idea." Replies another  
>"Can we eat him too?" the third asks causing me to chuckle slightly at their stupidity.<br>Gandalf raises his staff then brings it down on the rock, splitting it, revealing the sunrise which starts to turn the trolls into stone with a sizzling and hardening sound.  
>We all laugh of joy and I jump up and down on the spot a couple of times before almost falling over.<br>"Well done Bilbo" I say and kiss him on the cheek "You're a genius"  
>"Ooh, get your foot out of my back!" I hear Dwalin say. I look at him and chuckle.<p> 


	9. Trolls Are Disgusting!

After a while everyone is out of the sacks, and safely off the spit, a few are still getting themselves dressed after having to find where the trolls put their clothes and weapons.

"Cursed thing blunted my sword, using it as a blasted toothpick!" I complain as I find my weapons. "Oh come on!" I say unsheathing one of my daggers to find troll bogies all over the blade and the blade is also broken in half "That is foul..." I say realising it's even on the handle. I wince, closing my eyes. I shake my head and throw the blade and leather sheath away, ruined, there's no time to try and clean it up. "I hate trolls" I say wiping my hand on some moist grass, due has formed on the leaves so it helps to clean my hand. I'll get some new blades the next time we make a stop at a village if we pass one. So... A blunt-ish sword will have to suffice for now, I suppose I can sharpen it a little while we're riding. Although... I look around and notice it will probably still be a while before we're ready to move out so I sit down and start to sharpen it, cursing the trolls in elvish as I swipe my whetstone down my blades edges.

Thorin calls for a few Dwarves who are sorted to go and help him look for the cave that the trolls must have been staying in. As predicted I was ignored, thankfully though since I would rather make sure my sword is sharp. I feel a small thump in the ground as something hits the grass near my feet causing me to look at what it is. It's a sheathed dagger. I look up to see who threw it but I can't tell, everyone is wandering around trying to find anything of use that the trolls had around here and a few other are heading towards the foot of the cliffs. I pick it up a little unsure and I look at it, it's a well crafted dwarf make blade, not unexpected since I am travelling with dwarves, but who threw it to me? On closer inspection I see a flower like symbol, Thorin's seal. I look to where he's walking up through the trees, and as if he could tell I was looking at him he looks around, still walking. I'm surprised and to avoid staring I look away, back to my sword and continue sharpening it, I glance at him through the corner of my eyes as he turns to look back to where he is walking.

They've found a cave, as predicted there would be and everyone moves up to wait for Thorin, Gandalf and the others to return. The smell that comes from the cave is one most foul. Faeces and rotting flesh and who knows what else that is in there. I sit on some of the stone boulders and large rocks that protrude out of the ground around the area and Bilbo comes over to me smiling, more like grinning.  
>"What?" I ask looking at him confused as he sits next to me<br>"Oh, nothing, nothing at all" he says with a slight chuckle  
>"Bilbo..."<br>"What? Really it's nothing, is a hobbit not allowed to smile for no reason?"  
>I give him a look before looking away, shaking my head a little. I look around the company spotting Fili and Kili who also grinning once they see that I am looking at them. Oh no... They don't think... Do they..? They think there's some kind of hidden attraction between the two of us? Me and Thorin... No. Never. Not possible. NO! He hates elves... He... hates... me...<br>"Do not even think it Bilbo Baggins, or you two" I say giving them looks as I stand up and walk over to a few trees and sit down near them. Great... This is going to be a fun trip, more so than it already was...


	10. Wolf? That Was Not A Wolf

As soon as Thorin appears from the cave I stand up and walk back to the group, ready to leave upon command. I look over to Bilbo who's now talking to Gandalf, who has just come out of the cave behind everyone else, he is handing the little man a sword. That does not mean I am going to stop watching out for him, especially after what I heard Thorin say to Gandalf back at Bilbo's house... I will get him back home in one piece, I promised him. The hobbit has probably never even used a sword before, he's lived in The Shire all his life, it's obvious he wouldn't have

"Something's coming!" I hear Thorin call, snapping me out of my thoughts and hearing branches snapping and leaves rustling as something is quickly heading in our direction.  
>"Stay together! Hurry now. Arm yourselves" Gandalf instructs as he heads over to the group who are all heading towards the sound of whatever is approaching. I start heading off after Gandalf before realising Bilbo isn't moving. A few of the dwarves run past me, including Thorin who gives me an unidentifiable look. Bilbo slowly draws his sword and looks at it. "Bilbo" I call him, getting his attention, he comes quickly and we follow the others, who have run off into the woods<p>

A sled towed by rabbits stops in the middle of lot of us who have our weapons drawn defensively. Some – Bifur, Kili and Dwalin, nearly get run down by the mad man who shouts "Thieves! Fire! Murder!" Clad in brown, holding a walking stick as he stands on the back of the sled. Bilbo and Fili are lucky the sled stops just in front of them, or they would have been underneath it. Bilbo looks terrified and we all just look at this strange man in surprise unsure if he is friend or foe, he hasn't attacked yet, maybe that is a good thing. But Gandalf moves closer to the man "Radagast! Radagast the Brown" he gets to him and looks at him questioningly "What on earth are you doing here?" he ask. Oh! This is the wizard he mentioned earlier on in our journey, I had forgotten that conversation until just now. I sheath my sword as others do, once they realise he's not a threat, but Bilbo still looks a little shaken.  
>"I was looking for you, Gandalf. Something's wrong. Something's terribly wrong."<br>"Yes?" Gandalf seems unsure what to make of the situation of the second wizard appearing/

Radagast opens his mouth to speak, but shuts it. He opens his mouth again, but closes it again.  
>"Oh, just give me a minute... Um, oh, I had a thought, and now I've lost it. It was... It was right there, on the tip of my tongue... Oh, it's not a thought at all; it's a silly old..." Gandalf pulls a stick insect out of Radagast's mouth. "-stick insect!"<br>I pull a face seeing someone have a live bug in their mouth, I've never really liked bugs, but that, that made me cringe. The dwarves and Bilbo look flustered. Radagast and Gandalf go off a few paces and speak privately.

We all relax a little bit as we stand around the sleigh waiting for Gandalf and Radagast to finish talking. I go over to Bilbo who is looking at his sword. "It's a little bit blunt" I say as I sit next to him  
>"Oh? Is it? I wouldn't really know now, would I?" he says looking at me<br>"I'll sharpen it for you if you like, you wouldn't be able to do much with a blunt blade"  
>"I... Yes, thank you, I hope I do not cut my finger off with it" he jests slightly<br>I chuckle "Don't touch the blade and you wont" I say taking the sword from him as he hands it to me, still in it's sheath. I take it out and start to sharpen it with the whetstone I get out of my shoulder bag.

"I will admit, I am looking forward to going to sleep tonight, I probably will not even feel the floor I will be so tired" he says conversationally  
>"Always finding a root or something sticking into your back?" I ask smiling amused, sharpening the blade easily, that's elvish metalworking for you.<br>"Yes, either a tree root or a stone that ends up feeling like a huge rock. I would give anything for a night where there is nothing sticking in my back" he says softly, looking at the floor, seeming to be thinking of home. I don't blame him, this was thrust upon him. I finish sharpening his sword and hand it back to him "There you go, you could cut a fair sized branch with that now" I jest slightly. He smiles and puts the belt and sheath on "You look fiercer already"

Suddenly, a howl is heard in the distance.  
>"Was that a wolf? Are there-are there wolves out there?" Bilbo asks standing up quickly and looking to where it sounded like the howl came from, everyone looks in the same direction. I stand up and move over to Bilbo, protectively, he's like a little brother to me since I have gotten to know him<br>"Wolves? No, that is not a wolf." Bofur says with a worried tone in his voice as another howl is heard.  
>"Wargs..." I say simply more to myself<br>"W-Wargs?" Bilbo says looking at me with a uneasy look on his face.  
>There's faint growling and a twig snaps causing everyone to turn around. From behind a nearby crag, a Warg had appeared. It leaps into the midst of the Company, knocking down Dori. Thorin strikes the left fore-leg of it taking it down, before striking again and killing it. Another Warg attacks from the other side, behind Thorin, who's sword is embedded in the first warg. Kili shoots the second warg with an arrow, bringing it down. However, it starts to get back up, only to be killed by Dwalin with a heavy hit to the head. There's then a third from the direction the howl came from, not the one that howled, it can't have been. It takes Dwalin down as it jumps into the group before going for Thorin as soon as it sees him. Using the dagger that Thorin had discretely thrown to me I throw it and it hits the Warg above the eye, killing it , It drops dead right in front of him, a few others had reacted and would have attacked it but it would have gotten Thorin before anyone could have reacted. I hope he realises I just saved his life...<p>

He looks at me for a moment, a slightly shocked expression on his face, before pulling his sword from the Warg he had just killed.  
>"Warg-Scouts! Which means an Orc pack is not far behind." he says looking around at his fellows wondering if there are alright.<br>"Orc pack?" Bilbo exclaims. Probably still unnerved from what Fili and Kili said at the camp that night. Thorin looks at me for a second before Gandalf gets his attention. I didn't realise him and Radagast had stood near me.  
>"Who did you tell about your quest, beyond your kin?" Gandalf asks starting to walk towards Thorin<br>"No one." Thorin says simply, a little surprised that the wizard thinks he would tell anyone else  
>Who did you tell?" The wizard asks again, more demandingly this time<br>"No one, I swear. What in Durin's name is going on?" he has a hint of a concerned tone in his voice  
>Gandalf sighs and it comes to reason that "You are being hunted."<br>"We have to get out of here." Dwalin states as a matter of fact  
>"We can't! We have no ponies; they bolted." Ori informs as he runs back over to the group<p>

"I'll draw them off." Radagast says all of a sudden  
>"Are you mad?" I say to the obviously crazy wizard<br>"These are Gundabad Wargs; they will outrun you." Gandalf says  
>"These are Rhosgobel Rabbits; I'd like to see them try." Radagast says pulling a confident smile<p> 


	11. Old Wounds

Wounds will heal, but scars remain

The howling has gotten closer, and we've moved out of the trees on onto the rocky plain, we're hiding behind a large rock, downwind of the Wargs so that they can not smell us. The plan is for Radagast to get the attention of the Orc pack, keeping them away from us whilst we get far enough away from them.

I look at Bilbo who is behind me "You alright there Bilbo?" I ask quietly. He nods  
>"I will be better when there are no wargs around, that's for sure"<br>I nod smiling "We'll be rid of them in no time" I say reassuringly  
>Gandalf looks out from behind the rock as he hears the wargs snarling and Radagast taunting them, sounding like he is actually enjoying it. Radagast and the Wargs disappear down into one of the gullys between the hills of the plain, out of sight.<br>"Come on!" Gandalf says when he thinks it is safe to go

We rush across the rocky terrain. The Wargs call the other Wargs that are close by, scouting the area, and they all converge on Radagast. The Wargs cross our path, not too far away from us "Stay together." Gandalf says quietly to the lot of us before heading a different way.  
>"Move!" Thorin makes sure everyone heads the opposite way from the wargs before following<br>As the chase continues, The wargs cross our path again Thorin stops behind a rock so that he is not seen by the Wargs the ones behind him stop, I almost bump into him and noticing the Wargs turn and stop Bilbo from running out.  
>"Ori, no! Come back!" Thorin grabs Ori before he breaks from the cover of the rocks, so he's not seen by the wargs or the orcs<br>"Come on! Quick!" Gandalf directs us a different way again. I let Bilbo go and he nods before heading off in the direction I start to run before recognising where we are. I've been here before, when I was younger. The memory cuts through my thoughts of the present and I stop after a few steps. 

_I hear the sound of arrows flying through the air and penetrating flesh followed by a loud yelp and then wining of a warg dying, there's faint sounds of horses galloping and whinnying, getting louder before it stops and I can hear voices that I can't quite make out. _

I get grabbed by my arm, taking me out of my memories, and pulled along, I don't think about looking at who it is, upon remembering where I am and what is happening I don't hesitate to run, being let go by whoever helped me. We take cover behind an outcropping of rock and I realise that it was Thorin who helped me. He looks at me with a disproving look as he takes cover and I look away from him, the memories are starting to surface, I had buried them and I wanted them to stay buried... Bilbo looks at me questionably. We're all breathing heavily from all the running around, thankfully we can get a little bit of a breather just now. I hear a warg on the outcropping above us, snapping me back into the present again, I can think about the past later. I look to see the warg and rider sniffing around in the top of the rocks

Thorin looks at Kili and nods to his bow. He readies an arrow before taking a short but deep breath before quickly stepping out and shooting the Warg. He gets the warg in the top of the right leg, the orc goes to blow a horn to alert the others to us. The warg snaps at the arrow trying to get it out, and with the orc being shot it causes them to topple off the edge The Warg and the orc on it fall off the outcropping, they're not dead so those close draw their weapons and the warg and rider get up, the orc almost gets Bilbo but I've gathered most senses back and manage to deflect the blade, moving back slightly as Dwalin and Bifur attack the orc before it can retaliate. Thorin and myself attack the warg which yelps with every hit and the orc yelling, no doubt the sounds carried to the others and alerted them to our presence.

We pause for a moment, not sure if they know about us or not, but once we hear the howling we know they heard.  
>"Move. Run!" Gandalf says in a hurried voice. We waste no time in starting to run.<br>The rocks start to thin out and a few more trees are around in place of the rocks. The howling is getting closer.  
>"There they are!" Gloin points some out not too far away from us. We stop to see them racing in our direction. But Gandalf gets our attention away from them, keeping us going. "This way! Quickly!"<br>We run for a while longer, then halt as we see Wargs ahead, cutting off our path and more closing in on all sides.  
>"There's more coming!" Kili shouts<br>"Kili! Shoot them!" Thorin shouts, as we all gather in closer to each other. I take that as a cue to take off my bow and start to shoot at the wargs and riders also  
>"We're surrounded! Fili shouts causing everyone to look around to see how many wargs are here<br>Kili and myself begin shooting at the Wargs and the riders, killing some of them. Missing, and simply injuring others. I shoot a warg, with no rider that was running straight for Balin causing it to flip over and to be killed by Balin.  
>"Where is Gandalf?" Kili asks as he looks back to the group. Gandalf has vanished. I look around for him surprised to see that he has gone "Gandalf...?" I say quietly confused at his disappearance.<br>"He has abandoned us!" Dwalin accuses

The dwarves gather closer to each other, in almost a circle with their backs to each other. As a rider and his Warg approach, Ori shoots a rock at him with his slingshot, hitting the warg in the head, all it does is anger the warg, which snarls in response.  
>"Hold your ground!" Thorin orders, holding his sword defensively. I let off a few more shots of arrows, now running low on them, but thankfully as they get nearer it's easier to shoot them<br>"This way, you fools!" I turn quickly, surprised, Gandalf is popping up in a gap in some rocks  
>"Come on, move!" Thorin says as he heads over to the rock that Gandalf disappears into again. He stands on the rock before turning back to his fellows who starts to slide down into the gap in the rock, sliding into a small cave, not big enough for a warg to get into "Quickly, all of you! Go, go, go!" he says as they all go down one after the other. Thorin kills a Warg that gets too close.<p>

Kili shoots another. He's still out in the open shooting Wargs and riders.  
>"Kili! Run!" Thorin shouts, looking at his nephew worried for him, he's the last one still out. A warg and rider start running towards Kili as he turns his back and starts running for him. Others starting to run also. I grab my last arrow, there's a warg behind Kili but I can't get a clear shot from where I am standing, Kili is directly in front of it. I run away from the rocks getting called back by Thorin. I get a clear shot and take it quickly, just before It gets Kili. I sigh thankful before hearing a warg running up behind me, I turn to see one jumping and I duck and roll out of the way before getting up and running back to the cave. The warg skids as it turns running at me again Kili shoots it, killing it. I get to the rock and the three of us slide down just as more wargs reach the crack, an horn sounds, and the sounds of horses hooves and arrows flying, wargs snarling and growling. Orcs yelling and the sounds of flesh being torn. We look up through the gap in the rock and listen to the conflict. One of the orcs, shot by an arrow, falls into the cave. We all hold our weapons to the orc and when it doesn't move Gandalf hits it with his staff, still doesn't move, the arrow in the neck must have killed it. Thorin plucks out the arrow and examines it "Elves..." he says distastefully, throwing the arrow to the floor.<p>

"I cannot see where the pathway leads. Do we follow it or no?" Dwalin calls, I turn and notice that there is indeed a pathway.  
>"Follow it, of course!" Bofur says and starts to walk, everyone following. I look at Bilbo who was looking at Gandalf before he follows the group, I'm relieved the hobbit is okay. I sigh a little and replace my bow on my back as I look at the floor. Kili pats my shoulder causing me to look at him as he nods thanking me, smiling softly. I nod in response also thanking him before he carries on down the pathway,<br>"I think that would be wise." Gandalf says quietly to himself about Bofur's comment before motioning for me to go ahead. I nod and start to walk I knew he didn't abandon us.

We follow the path. At times, some of the dwarves have difficulty going through. The pathway eventually opens out into an open area, a little dribble of a stream flows out from the rocks heading down into a valley below, and in that valley is the city of Rivendell. It hasn't changed a bit. It's just how I remember it to be. The dwarves go to the edge of the cliff but Thorin stands there displeased.

As soon as Bilbo sees the valley he looks completely amazed. The cascading falls that glitter in the sunlight all merge into one large river at the bottom of the vale. I stand still simply looking at it, a soft breeze blows through and I close my eyes as I feel its gentle caress on my cheeks. The air is clean and fresh, with a slight hint of flowers in the air. Birds twitter softly as they fly around in the setting sun light giving it an incomparable feeling of serenity.

"The Valley of Imladris. In the Common Tongue, it's known by another name." Gandalf says as he comes out from the pathway  
>"Rivendell." Bilbo says entranced by the beauty of this place<br>"Here lies the last Homely House east of the sea."  
>"This was your plan all along, to seek refuge with our enemy." Thorin says turning and facing Gandalf<br>I have to bite my tongue a little to refrain from making a comment that may make his dislike to me more severe. I walk over to the edge and look out over the valley, some of the dwarves do not seem very happy about being here either. I'm starting to think that a few of them ignore that fact that I am half elf simply because they had gotten to know me a little before finding out


	12. Bad Blood

We travel down a thin dirt path and follow single file along it until we get to a bridge, we cross, following behind Gandalf and Thorin. Bilbo gazes in awe at the beauty of the place and I must say I am quite happy, yet at the same time I feel the pain that I once felt so long ago swirling inside like a poison. The dwarves look uneasy as we stand in the courtyard waiting to be greeted. I stand near Gandalf, who insisted I should be there when we are greeted.

After a few moments a dark-haired elf walks down a flight of stairs to greet us.  
>"Mithrandir." a voice says, gaining our attention,<br>Gandalf turns to look at the elf that had just spoken one of his names "Ah, Lindir!"  
>The elf looks at me, having to take a second glance "A! Lady Chase, Gwannas lû and" it has been too long.<br>"Gi Suilon, Lindir" I greet you , Lindir. I say bowing my head slightly, respectfully.  
>The dwarves murmur amongst themselves in distrust.<br>"Lastannem i athrannedh i Vruinen." We heard you had crossed into the Valley he says letting us know that they were expecting us, in a round about way.  
>"I must speak with Lord Elrond." Gandalf says now that formalities are aside<br>"My lord Elrond is not here." Lindir replies apologetically  
>"Not here? Where is he?" The wizard enquires<p>

Suddenly, the Elvish horns from earlier are heard again. The Company turns around upon hearing the sound and they see a group of armed horsemen approaching along the bridge at a rapid rate. The dwarves, feeling threatened that the riders do not slow their pace start to panic and close in together.  
>"Ifridî bekâr!" Ready weapons! "Hold ranks!" Thorin says to all the dwarves who feel and act as though they are under attack from the approaching elves. I close my eyes and shake my head as I sigh. I open my eyes again to see the dwarves bunched up as close as possible in a tight circle with their weapons pointed outward. The mounted Elves arrive are riding in circles around the dwarves. Eventually, they stop.<p>

"Gandalf." Elrond says smiling happily as he sees his old friend  
>"Lord Elrond" the wizard replies equily as pleased to see his old friend.<br>"Mellonnen! Mo evínedh?" My friend! Where have you been?" Gandalf greets the elf with a respectful gesture  
>"Farannem 'lamhoth i udul o charad. Dagannem rim na Iant Vedui." We've been hunting a pack of Orcs that came up from the South. We slew a number near the Hidden Pass.<br>Elrond dismounts from his horse and walks over to his friend. They hug, glad to see each other after however many years it has been.  
>"Strange for Orcs to come so close to our borders. Something, or someone, has drawn them near."<br>He holds up an Orc sword and shows it to Gandalf, knowingly. Before handing it to Lindir  
>"Ah, that may have been us." the wizard says stepping aside, Elrond notices me and greets me in the same way Lindir had, mentioning the long passing of time since we had last seen each other. Then Lord Elrond turns to the Dwarves and Thorin steps forward. The elf looks upon him with recognition, and respectfully greets him. The other riders starts to ride off towards the stables, thw dwarves calming slightly at their departure.<br>"Welcome Thorin, son of Thrain."  
>"I do not believe we have met." Thorin replies, not so respectfully<br>"You have your grandfather's bearing. I knew Thror when he ruled under the Mountain." Elrond is still civil, despite the utter rudeness of the stubborn Dwarf Prince.  
>"Indeed, he made no mention of you." Thorin says rudely, purposely it seems.<br>Choosing the high ground and ignoring this insult. "Nartho i noer, toltho i viruvor. Boe i annam vann a nethail vin." Light the fires, bring forth the wine. We must feed our guests. He says with a plain expression on his face.  
>"What is he saying? Does he offer us insult?" Gloin asks accusingly as he moves through the group<br>The dwarves grow agitated and grip their weapons uneasily.  
>"No, master Gloin, he's offering you food." Gandalf says exasperatedly. Elrond laughs a little, amused.<br>The dwarves quickly discuss this amongst themselves before turning back to Lord Elrond.  
>"Ah well, in that case, lead on." Gloin speaks again, a few dwarves nod and some are smiling before all the dwarves start following Lindir who leads them away.<p>

I am about to follow but Elrond stops me. "Lady Chase, if it is alright with you I would like a word with you later, after you have eaten of course" he says smiling  
>I really wish he would not call me a Lady, I do not like being referred to like that.<br>"Of course Lord Elrond" I say inclining my head in a slight bow before he motions for me to follow the company. He and Gandalf start walking the opposite way, speaking about urgent matters no doubt


	13. Memories

I'm simply standing off to one side as the company are less than pleased with the vegetables that the elves had served them for dinner, or of the music for that mater, Dwalin asking where the meat is. Causing me to chuckle a little. But I don't think that they really enjoy being here. I don't blame them, but it does put a little weight on my shoulders and make me feel more like they do ignore or forget the fact that I am half elf. Thorin excuses himself and stands off to the side, I can't help but glance over at him and as I do I notice him looking at me, slightly, trying not to show it. As I notice and he notices me look at him, we both look away.

"Alright Lads there's only one thing for it" Bofur says as he stands up, catching my attention, thankfully. He goes over and stands on a small decorative pedestal in the middle of the small coffee tables that were brought in for the dwarves to sit on, and he starts singing.  
>"There's... An..."<br>The dwarves laugh a little and cheer when they realise what he is singing, I see Thorin smiling and chuckling, an expression I have not seen from him this entire journey so far.  
>"Inn, there's an inn.<br>There's a merry old inn  
>Beneath an old grey hill<br>And there they brew a beer so brown  
>The Man in the Moon"<br>I smile and remember the song and everyone, including myself join in singing, and food starts getting thrown around. Cutlery gets tapped on the table and plates, even glasses, and Bifur includes his own head as other stamp their feet.  
>"Himself came down<br>One night  
>To drink his fill"<br>I catch myself tapping my foot a little in tune looking around at the elves who are unsure what to make of dwarvish songs, they can't fault the singing, Bofur has a great singing voice.  
>"Oh<br>The ostler has a tipsy cat  
>That played a five-stringed fiddle<br>And up and down he saws his bow  
>Now squeaking high<br>Now purring low  
>Now sawing in the middle"<br>I look around at the dwarves and even notice Thorin smiling and tapping his foot to the beat, whilst drinking from his flask.  
>"So<br>The cat on the fiddle  
>Played hey-diddle-diddle<br>A drink that'll wake the dead  
>He squeaked and he sawed<br>And he quickened  
>The tune<br>And the landlord  
>Shook the Man<br>In the Moon  
>'it's after Three!' he said."<br>We all cheer and Thorin, seeming to be in a plesant mood, inclines his head at me, I raise my glass and incline my head in return, respectfully, smiling and taking a drink before quickly having to dodge a projectile carrot.

The elves do not seem very impressed with what dwarves call entertainment, myself on the other-hand prefer dwarvish entertainment, even the flying food. But I was raised surrounded by dwarves, and I can't help but laugh as I look around at the faces of the elves.

I was given my old room to stay in and accepted it, but I haven't spent much time in it yet, I've been walking around the gardens, admittedly I've been upset, being here has brought the memories flooding back,  
>I hear a lot of shouting and follow the sounds and see what all the hilarity is about, it's the dwarves, obviously, this place it usually tranquil, and we all know what dwarves are like. I'm thankful I am at a distance, I would rather not be any closer to naked dwarves as they are swimming and diving into one of the large fountains. I pray that Lord Elrond doesn't see them and I quickly turn and walk away, I've seen enough of naked dwarves albeit distant naked dwarves. Once I am a good distance away from the dwarves I start heading to a place where I can just sit and think, and battle the memories that are clawing to get out and onto the surface. I turn and walk around a corner, my fight is failing against the memories and because I'm concentrating on my thoughts and not on my surrounding I bump into someone, with the speed I was walking and the force of the other person I ended up facing the opposite way than I was walking and looking right at Thorin. I'm surprised and as I see his face I feel my walls break. I apologise quickly as I turn away and continue to walk feeling my tears filling my eyes. Seeing him while in that state of mind completely knocked me off my supports.<p>

A few hours later I am in a courtyard standing in front of a memorial statue, the only sound is the trickling of water features. It's dark now, the sun set about an hour ago. Everything is just piling up into a crushing weight that I feel in my chest.  
>"I thought you would be here" Lord Elrond says softly from behind me. I turn around and bow respectfully, and to my embarrassment, surprise "The memories are resurfacing I assume" he says as he is walking towards me.<br>"Yes, and no matter how I try I can not get them out of my mind again" I sigh. I dread to think of the nightmares that are going to follow. Usually they're bad anyway, but now the memories are back and I'm not intoxicated through alcohol consumption, they're torture.

"I worry for you, you are like a daughter to me, you know this. Which is why I am wondering if you think this quest is really worth it?" Ahh, he's worked it out I guess, or been told. "You have been here less than half a day and you are already troubled, I do not like the thought of what pain Erebor will bring to you, you will not be able to hide it forever" he says taking hold of my shoulders. I don't try and hide my tears from Elrond, he's one of the few people that I completely trust. He did save my life after all. He tries to comfort me by gently hugging me reassuringly. He must know that Thorin is being difficult because of his hatred for elves

***

_Wargs are snapping and snarling, they can't get through the gap in the rock thankfully, the cold stone against my ripped and bloody shirt is numbing the large claw wound on my back. One of the creatures managed to clip me as my mother and I had taken cover within the safety of this small cave. My mother and myself can catch our breath confident that the warg can't get in. The cave is small but large enough for a small group of people and looks to have been used as a temporary campsite, but not for very many years. There are a few bones around and a few of them look as though they were sharpened. I pick one up that is near me, falling to my knees as I move. Feeling weak from the blood-loss and travelling I have to really force myself to make any motion. I look around for anything useful, even though every movement is agony for my back and my muscles in general I can't afford to just give up, I've lost my father to these wargs already, I can not loose my mother to them too. I see a few long sticks around and shuffle over to them on my knees and pick one up and creating a makeshift spear, using a string from my clothes to tie it together as my mother fusses over my back. Using a few herbs we have found on our journey. She grabs a stone, that has a slight bowl shape to it and starts to mash them into a paste using another stone.  
>Using my makeshift spear as a prop to help myself stand up, I move over to the warg that is still snapping and snarling at the entrance, using the wall as a support. I gather most of the strength I have left and raise the spear before stabbing the warg. It yelps and I stab it again before it retreats from the cave mouth. I sigh relieved and fall to my knees. My mother hurries over to me as I lean against my spear and she quickly puts the paste on my back. I hiss a little at the cold contact and the pain it causes but it quickly starts soothing it. She speaks reassuringly but I can't make out what she's saying, the pain and the dizziness has now blocked out my senses and everything feels like it is going in slow motion and my ears are ringing. I don't even realise that I have fallen onto my side until the darkness starts clouding my vision.<br>I wake up with a jolt as I see my father getting pounced on and torn apart by two wargs. A few seconds later the pain hits me with blinding force causing me to struggle breathing and screw my face up tightly in agony. The paste on my back had hardened and because I moved suddenly and split the wounds that were healing, the blood contacting the hardened paste caused the healing properties of the herbs to react and start to numb it almost instantly. I feel a hand on my shoulder and the soothing voice of my mother, I look at her when the pain starts to fade. Clean streaks down her dirty face gives away that she had been crying, no doubt worrying about me and mourning for my father I blink painfully and look out of the gap  
>"How long has it been?" I ask noticing it's light outside, just like it was when I lost contentiousness.<br>"About two hours" she replies softly. I'm surprised so I start to get up but she stops me  
>"We can not stay here mother, I need to get you home" She reluctantly nods and starts to stand up. We had been travelling towards Rivendell, with what money we had we bought supplies at the villages we passed, at one place my mother had to sell all her jewellery, including a locket that father got her as a gift, and she even had to sell her wedding ring, even my father sold his treasured possessions 'as long as we have each other we will not need trinkets' he had said. But she now has nothing to remember him by, only memories. Helping me as she does before getting my spear and one that she had made. She had sharpened them, her hands all cut from the sharp rock she had used.<br>We quickly make our way across the grassy and rocky land making good time. Since I have never been to Rivendell my mother is leading. Then we hear a howl in the distance from where we came. Wargs. I curse and she urges us to run, they will no doubt catch our scent soon. And is if our luck could not get any worse one jumps in front of us from behind a group of rocks. We skid to a stop on the dusty ground and the warg crouches in an aggressive stance and starts to slowly walk towards us, my mother pushes me behind her and holds up a spear at the warg, as do I from behind her, weakly. It growls and jumps at the both of us, my mother pushes me out of the way causing me to fall onto the floor but out of the creatures pounce. The Warg impales itself on the spear wining and flailing. I look back to see the warg fall onto it's side in pain and my mother bleeding from her shoulder, but behind her is an orc that stabs her in the lower back, I don't know where he came from, he must have also been behind the rocks. She falls to the floor as he lets her go and looks at me smiling menacingly. If I could scream I would, but in that moment I feel strength rise from deep within and I grab the makeshift spear I made and get up, I run at the orc and skewer him through the abdomen. He squeals and tries to slash me with the dagger he used on my mother but the spear is too long, I twist it causing him to roar in pain before pulling it out of him, he stumbles backwards and I sweep the spear to his feet and trip him up. Stabbing him again now that he is on the floor, I do not stop until he is no longer screeching. The frantic stabbing causes blood to splatter all over my face and front. I lean against the spear that's still embedded in the now dead orc and I just breathe heavily, realising I have killed. I start to shake and I lean off the spear and look at my hands covered in blood.  
>I hear howling a lot closer and I remember the warg that pounced at us and I hear a rumbling, slightly wheezy growl as it gets up, I look to it and seeing how close it is I quickly back away from it tripping over a loose rock and falling. It snarls as it slowly walks over to me, limping a little before collapsing as an arrow embeds in it's skull, killing it. I'm surprised and look around a little, unable to see anything because I'm on the floor. I crawl over to my mother, tears in my eyes and I can just make out the sound of horses hooves in the distance seemingly fighting what sounds like more wargs. To my surprise she's still alive, but barely, she's paler than she usually is, and she's cold.<br>"My dear girl, you are alright now" she says smiling softly, looking weary "You are safe"  
>The horses get close and I hear voices<br>Boe din eithad!" They need aid! Someone calls to the others. I turn and look in the direction my mother looks and I notice a few people hurrying to us. One of them is a tall man with long dark hair "Odulen an gin eithad" I am hear to aid you. He says softly as he crouches down to help me up, the other two helping my mother carefully _

"I could have saved her, I could have saved the both of them... If only I was stronger, quicker... Wiser" I say softly, looking back to the statue of my mother, letting him go.  
>"In a way, you did save them, they live through you, they would be proud of the woman you are today, even though it is not the life they would have liked you to have. But they would not want you to blame yourself for what can not have been helped, dry your eyes, I suggest you try and get some sleep, or at least go and enjoy the party your friends seem to be having, I heard an almighty thud and then a chorus of laughter after passing their quarters" he chuckles a little. I can't help but smile a little and he hands me a handkerchief "Goodnight, Lady Chase" he says softly as he smiles, before walking away. I thank him as he leaves and wish him a goodnight before drying my eyes and looking back to my mothers statue with a small figure carved into the front of it. To most people it may look like a mother and her child, but I know that it is my mother and my father.<p> 


	14. What Time Can't Change

I bolt upright in bed shouting "No!"  
>I look around and realise I'm safe. I sigh, breathing heavily and rub my eyes a little to wake up properly. I was dreaming of my parents deaths, again, as I do every night, but now that I'm here the pain and clarity of the memory causes tears to roll down my face. The alcohol used to ease the pain and help bury the memories that I can never forget, and help me sleep until dawn, but now that I'm constantly sober I loose sleep and the memories are almost always there. Keeping moving is the best way to push them from my mind, for a little while at least. I shake my head and whipe my eyes before getting out of bed, I throw the sheets off me and stand up. My parents wouldn't want me to be like this, they would want me to get on with my life and not mourn them every moment of my life, it is easier after all these years, but the pain never goes, it's always there, just sometimes not as noticeable. I walk over to the balcony and I move aside the semitransparent white curtains blowing in the slight breeze and walk over to the rail and I look out at the night sky, the moon shining brightly and stars flickering like diamonds reflecting light. At that thought I remember Erebor. Seams of gold running through the rock like solid rivers, emeralds, rubies and diamonds are but some of the treasures mined and crafted into fine jewellery and decorations by master smiths and artisans. An entire city within a mountain. The living quarters were carved out of the stone itself and a lot of decoration was traded with the townsfolk of Dale, business, trade and lives were grand. Until that fateful day when everything changed...<br>"Lady Chase, may I have a word?" A voice came from behind. I turn around and notice the Dwarf Prince himself. "My prince," I say curtsying slightly and inclining my head respectfully, "what can I do for you?" I ask. My father and his are great friends so I have known Thorin most of my life, yet we have never really spoken much, I spend a lot of time outside of the city, my mother doesn't approve she thinks I should stay inside the mountain rather than go to Dale. "I was wondering if you had seen my father? The last I heard he was heading to find your father" he says. "I'm sorry, I haven't seen your father, or mine today" I reply. He nods and hesitates slightly before speaking again"...To tell you the truth, I was actually looking for you, I was wondering... If... You... Would accompany me to the city?" He asks, it appears he was a little unsure what to say. I smile a little. "It would be an honour" I say, he smiles at my reply seeming a little relieved at the same time"  
>There's a knock on my door taking me out of my thoughts. "Chase? Is everything alright? I thought I heard something" Bilbo's concerned voice comes from the other side of the door. "Yeah, I'm alright, thank you, sorry if I woke you" I say softly, not moving from the balcony. He stays for a moment before I hear him start to walk away. I sigh and sit on the balcony looking down at the waterfall underneath.<p>

I shake my head of the memory that tries to surface. I would rather not think of the days when Thorin and I were friends, he may tolerate me, but we are no longer friends, he constantly makes it clear that I'm a thorn in his side. Loss changes different people in different ways I suppose. Me? It made me less naive, stronger, wiser, but mostly it taught me that life isn't easy but you've got to keep going, fighting for all that you love, even when they're gone. Just remember that they would want you to live your life and not dwell on the past. I know, it's easier said than done. I sigh. I think I should try and get some more sleep until dawn, we're moving off before first light. But I know that I won't be able to so I take a walk instead. It is nice at this time in a morning, peaceful, quiet, there's not much better than the sound of a peaceful night. I actually feel at peace at the moment, my memories not bothering me for the time being since I am still waking up. It makes me prefer being tired when I do not have to relive my parents death. It's either that or because I let out a lot of pent up tension earlier when I broke down. I just hope that Thorin didn't notice when I bumped into him, that's the only problem on my mind now that I think about it. I lean on a rail and just admire the view.  
>I walk back up towards the dwarves and Bilbo's lodgings, hoping to find the Hobbit, and I hear the voices of Gandalf and Elrond talking so I stop walking as I hear them mention our quest.<br>"The Throne of Erebor is Thorin's birthright, what is it that you fear?" Gandalf asks.  
>"Have you forgotten? A strain of madness runs deep in that family" he says quietly to Gandalf "His Grandfather lost his mind, his father succumbed to the same sickness. Can you swear Thorin Oakenshield will not also fall?" he pauses for a moment "Gandalf these decisions do not rest with us alone, it is not up to you, or me to redraw the map of Middle Earth" Their voices are getting quieter as they are walking away<br>"With or without our help these dwarves will march on the mountain, they are determined to reclaim their homeland" I hear Gandalf say before they walk out of hearing range  
>I sigh and lean on a railing nearby. I had known about his grandfather, but I did not know about his father.<br>"You are up early" I hear a voice say, getting closer to me.  
>"Yes, well, I am not used to sleeping within walls. When on your own and sleeping in the wild you have to be a very light sleeper, otherwise you may not wake up at all" I say simply as I realise that it's Thorin. I look to my right side as he stands next to me resting his hands on the rail. If I didn't wake up throughout the night I would most likely be dead by now. A few times I have woken up just in time to prevent myself from being killed by orcs.<br>I lean off the rail and turn and start to walk away, I am not in the mood for his lectures if that is why he is here and I am not giving him a chance to say that I should stay here, if that is what he has come to say.  
>"Chase" he says in an undistinguishable tone of voice, I don't stop or turn around and just keep walking<br>"I do not want to hear it Thorin, and if you're thinking of telling me to stay here then think again, I made a promise to Bilbo and I do not break my promises. No matter the situation" I say remembering a promise that he made me once, one that I dare not let surface.  
>"Chase" he says a little bit louder than previously. I turn around a little fed up "We're leaving, I suggest you get ready and quickly" he says before walking back to his lodgings with the other dwarves and Bilbo, leaving me a little confused, but only for a moment because I turn around and head back to my room to gather my things that I will need, before heading back to the rest of them.<p> 


	15. Maybe Maybe Not

As we climb the small rocky path up to the top of the valley the warm glow of the rising sun can be seen off in the distance to our right, the cool air of the peaceful vale soon to be missed in the heat of the day to come. I stop on a wider part of the path and look back to Rivendell

_"Are you sure that this is what you want to do?" Lord Elrond asks me.  
>I nod "I can't stay, not with my head how it is, not with these memories. I think it is for the best." I say adjusting my pack on my back.<br>"Very well, just know that you are welcome here whenever you wish to return, and you can stay for as little or as long as you please." _

I'm taken out of my thoughts as I hear Thorin Speaking. I smile as I see Bilbo standing next to me looking back also. "Come on Bilbo." I say softly as I merge back into the line of dwarves. As I turn I halt a little as I notice Thorin stopping and looking back, but I quickly look to the floor to make sure I don't trip on any stones in the path. "Master Baggins. I suggest you keep up" Thorin says to the Hobbit. I breath a quiet sigh of relief that he wasn't going to make any comments to me. Between insults and being ignored, I prefer to be ignored. As for the confusing moment before we left, I still can't decide what went on there, was he being civil or does he just want someone to keep Bilbo out of trouble so they don't get into another mess like with the trolls..? ...Or... Dare I let myself think that he doesn't mind having me along any more..? I can't be sure.  
>The sun has risen by the time we get to the top of the path and starting to walk over the rocky and shrubbery terrain, through weathered and eroded passes and cliff edged hills through tall grass and up into the Misty Mountains.<br>By nightfall a storm had blown in, bringing heavy rain and thunder, causing the already treacherous path we were on to become worse with the strong winds and slippery rock beneath our feet and blinding our eyes. On multiple occasions loose rocks on the edge of the path broke away keeping us alert and cautious. It's hard to hear anything that Thorin is saying even when right behind him, but the hearing of dwarves is better than humans, and elves hearing is better than that of dwarves, but even then it's still difficult. The Thunder and freezing rain are making hearing hard and numbing our hands causing it to be harder to get a good grip. Suddenly Bilbo stands on some stones that give away under his feet causing him to nearly go over but thankfully he was pulled back. "We must find shelter!" Thorin shouts as he realises it's too dangerous to go on while in a storm There's multiple voices and then Dwalin shouts for everyone to look out. I look to where he and everyone else seem to be looking and there's a huge chunk of rock flying towards the mountain we're on. It hits the mountain and crumbles into smaller pieces that start to rain down on us. We all take cover as much as we can and thankfully none of us are knocked off the mountain by the debris.  
>"This is no thunder storm" I hear Balin say as he realises "It's a thunder battle. Look" he says pointing, causing all of us to look.<br>"Well bless me," Bofur says sounding amazed by what we are seeing a giant, ripping off part of the mountain that it was seemingly sleeping on. "The legends are true. Giants, stone giants." The giant throws the chunk of mountain and we watch as it hits another giant which is coming around the mountain behind us, the former cap or the mountain hits this second giant in the face, breaking up and scattering over the company as Bofur looks on amazed.  
>"Take cover you fool!" Thorin shouts as other dwarves grab Bofur and pull him back to safety out of the way of falling rocks breaking the path away as the debris fall right in front of us. But then something strange starts to happen, the mountain starts to move,, breaking apart down the middle separating the group into two. At that moments it's all too clear that we're standing on one of these giants. More bothered about keeping ourselves on the giant rather than falling a few thousand feet to the ground below we hold on as much as possible as a giant attacks the one we are on knocking it back onto the mountain. Taking the chance while we can the half of us quickly get off the colossus' leg, jumping as it starts to move, I look back as soon as I know I am on solid ground and look to the other half of the group still on the behemoth's other leg. We all stand up and while standing I realise that I had landed on Thorin when I had jumped and when I look back at him I see another giant making it's way towards the two that are fighting, holding another chunk of mountain. It throws it at the one with the other half of the company knocking it head off on impact and showering us with more debris so we have to run to the wall for cover, I'm surprised when Thorin protects me from the falling rocks, taking a couple of rocks to the back in my stead. When the rocks stop falling and we turn around the company fly by on the leg of the colossus as it staggers around struggling to stay balanced with no motor control. It's knee collides with the wall of the mountain with a heavy thud sending shock waves through the rock. "No!" Thorin shouts fearing the fate of his nephew and kinsmen. We watch the giant fall before running towards where it's knee collided "No, Kili!"<br>Once we get closer it's a relief to find them alive. I look at all their faces looking for Bilbo but I don't see him "Bilbo..?" I see Bofur and we both share a look "Where's Bilbo? Where's the Hobbit? There" he then notices him hanging off the edge of the cliff and Nori dives to grab him just as the Hobbit's grip fails, thankfully catching him, it's a struggle help him and he's unable to bring his arm up. Noticing this Thorin swings down and gets a foothold before grabbing the Hobbit, reacting a moment before I do. Bilbo now safely being helped up Thorin starts to climb back up but his foot slips, Dwalin grabs him and stops him from falling and being the only other person able to help I reach over and help to pull him up. Once he is safely not hanging over a cliff I go over to Bilbo who is a little panicked about his near death experience. "I thought we'd lost our burglar" Dwalin jests slightly to try and calm him down and lighten the mood, but Thorin, his pride being hurt from the fact he slipped or from the fact I helped him couldn't see the amusing side of the comment, instead his reply to the comment is that of "He's been lost ever since he left home" there's a small pause before he adds that "he should never have come. He and the elf have no place amongst us." he says before calling Balin in to check out a cave. I pull an irritated face and have to hold myself back from making a comment. Damn stubborn dwarf... But then I realise I'm just as stubborn as him sometimes, but at least I know when to admit I'm wrong and apologise for mistakes I make, unlike him. The rest of the dwarves enter the cave when they get the all clear from Dwalin. Bilbo and myself stay outside to let the dwarves settle in and to let Thorin calm down a little. Bilbo enters before I do, I stay outside the cave in the rain for a little while longer before finally entering and seeing that they are all settling down to sleep or already snoring, I pick an unoccupied spot furthest away from Thorin and lie down.  
>I can't fall asleep, I'm too frustrated and over thinking, why did Thorin shield me from the falling rocks? Or was it the only space he could find in that short space of time? I don't think I will ever understand him, I doubt that I would ever want to. I realise that Bilbo has gotten up and started to leave when a surprised Bofur startles him and myself with his sudden question.<br>"Where do you think you're going?" There's a short pause before the Hobbit replies in just louder than a whisper  
>"Back to Rivendell" I get up quietly and gather my things while they are talking.<br>"No, no you can't turn back now, you're part of the company, you're one of us"  
>"I'm not though am I?" Bilbo says, half asking half stating. Bofur has been the most accepting of us both out of the lot of them combined. "Thorin said I should never have come and he was right. I'm not a Took I'm a Baggins. I don't know what I was thinking. I should never have ran out my door"<br>"You're home sick, I understand" Bofur says reassuringly but The Hobbit cuts him off  
>"No you don't, you don't understand, none of you do, you're dwarves, you're used to this life, living on the road, never settling in one place, not belonging anywhere.." He says trying to be quiet. Even though he wasn't saying it to me his words hit hard and I have a moment to think to myself. He has somewhere to belong, we shouldn't be dragging him around on a fools errand that'll probably get us all killed. There's a pause. Before he starts to apologise.<br>"No you're right, we don't belong anywhere" Bofur says turning to look at the sleeping company of dwarves. He turns back to the hobbit "I wish you all the luck in the world, I really do"  
>"He won't need luck." I say walking up to them, they look at me a little surprised "He's got me, I made you a promise Bilbo, I keep my promises" I say smiling a little. Bofur looks at me understandingly yet I can tell he wants to protest "Good luck on getting your home back Bofur, take care of yourself"<br>"It's your home too no matter what you think."  
>I smile "It may be where I was born and grew up, but... It's not my home, neither is Rivendell, I actually don't have a home. I don't belong anywhere, but you Bofur and the rest of you Erebor is your home, for Bilbo The Shire, Bag End is his home, if I have a home it's out there, roaming from tavern to tavern and causing the town drunk to loose their occupation" I chuckle a little bit "Don't worry about us, we'll be fine, go reclaim your home"<br>"It's not going to be the same without you two" he says looking a little upset that we're leaving, but smiling. I hug him and he and Bilbo pat each other on the shoulder as we start to turn to leave.  
>"What's that?" he asks, we turn around and Bilbo looks to his sword where Bofur is looking, I move back into the cave more to see that they are both looking at his sword which is glowing.<br>There's sounds coming from underground, a sound like metal straining and what sounds like sand falling before more metallic groans. "Wake up" Thorin says alerted to the sounds "Wake up" There's no time for much reacting as the floor moves sending us all down a painful carved slide bouncing from side to side as it winds down through the stone until there's a moment of no contact with the hard stone before falling down a small drop landing in a heap on a wooden surface, painfully before hearing the sound of goblins and shortly after I feel something hit me, blacking out temporarily.


	16. Goblin Town

I blink a little dazed feeling throbbing in my temple and a sticky feeling, most likely blood from the gash where I was hit with I don't know what. Sound returns to my ears and realise the dwarves are struggling against the goblins, I quickly get to my feet, some of the other dwarves are still a little winded from the fall but get up regardless and fight. Unable to draw our weapons I punch a goblin that gets to close but the sheer number of them outmatch us at least one hundred to one. Goblins jump onto our backs and a few of the dwarves are grabbed pushed into the goblin swarm, but we don't stop fighting. We kick and punch and headbutt, some goblins end up being pushed over the edge but even through our struggles they manage to start dragging us over bridges through the caves, but we still don't stop fighting. I look around my vision a little unstable due to the blow to the head no doubt, unable to focus on one place. I look for the Hobbit getting a little panicky because I can't see my little friend. The Goblin's are pushing us, rather hurriedly through the main antechamber beyond which is a large cavern.  
>The amount of goblins probably numbers somewhere up to the five thousand mark, It's almost like a city of goblins, a few huts here and there and bridges extending in every direction, through other caves, but up ahead there seems to be a large platform up against a large protruding rock, that's where I assume they're taking us, it's right in the centre of the cavern. Some sort of out of tune music starts playing, clinking and what sounds like an out of tune violin or beaten and broken harmonica wining as we're lead towards a large goblin sitting on a chair of wood and decorated with bones, the Goblin King, atop hos head a crown of sharpened bones, in his hand a staff with a skull. His skin is covered in oozing boils and looks like he is decomposing alive, and the smell in here is stifling. He's singing and dancing around, thumping his stick on the platform. Other goblins making sure he stays standing, no doubt if he were to fall he wouldn't be able to get back up again, on his own anyway. "Down, down, down in goblin town" he sings and the other goblins repeat as we're shoved in front of him. He skewers one of the goblins on the spikes on top of his staff before waving it around like a flag and throwing it off which ends up hurtling down into the depths of the cavern. He starts spinning slowly causing us all to have to duck, twice, Thorin is looking at the goblin distastefully, worse than disgusted look he used to give me. And as he finishes the song he passes gas, I can't help but react by covering my mouth and nose.<br>He goes and sits back down on his throne "Catchy, isn't it? It's one of my own compositions"  
>"That's not a song, it's an abomination" Balin says causing goblins to squeak in protest pushing us a little.<br>"Abominations. Mutations. Deviations., that's all you're going to find down here"  
>"That abhorrent noise is as repulsive as the one who created it, no surprise there, you're a pathetic excuse of a goblin" I spit as we're disarmed and our weapons thrown onto the floor.<br>"Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom?" he asks getting down off his throne. "Spies? Thieves? Assassins?"  
>"You're not even worth the coin to hire spies or assassins, and no one would want to steal the worthless scrap you've got here" I say letting my temper get the better of me.<br>I see his face contort annoyed and he's about to react when another goblin tells him we're dwarves.  
>"Found 'em on the front porch" one of the goblins say to him<br>"Dwarves? Don't just stand their search them, every crack, every crevice. But bring that one to me" he says pointing at me. I get grabbed and the rest get searched, a couple of them trying to grab me to pull me back from the ones that pull me out of the group as they're being searched.  
>I fight against the goblins that are holding me as the Goblin King moves towards me. "You're very bold. Do I not frighten you? Little girl"<br>"You're about as frightening as a stone frozen troll" I say simply.  
>He isn't pleased by the insult that's for sure, he raises his arm to hit me and seeing as I don't even flinch he stops and smiles. "No, I am not going to kill you just yet, I have got something in mind for you" he laughs, pushing me back into the group.<br>"It is my belief, your great protuberance, that they are in league with Elves!"  
>The Goblin King looks at the bottom of a candle holder<br>"'Made in Rivendell', ah. Second Age. Couldn't give it away." I didn't expect the Goblin King to be interested in antiquities.  
>"Just a couple of keepsakes..." Nori explains to his comrades who are frowning upon him<br>"What are you doing in these parts?  
>Thorin is about to step forward but Oin places a hand on his shoulder stepping forward. "Don't worry, lads – I'll handle this"<br>"No tricks! I want the truth! Warts and all!"  
>"You're going to have to speak up. Your boys have flattened my trumpet." Oin says holding his hearing aid up.<br>The Goblin King stands up and steps forward, furious "I'll flatten more than your trumpet!"  
>"If it's more information you're wanting, I'm the one you should speak to" Bofur takes over, the Goblin King pauses for a moment and lets him speak, the irritation clear on his face.<br>"We were on the road...well, it's not so much a road as a path...actually, it's not even that, come to think of it, it's more like a track. Anyway, the point is we were on this road, like a path, like a track, and then we weren't. Which is a problem, because we were supposed to be in Dunland last Tuesday."  
>"Visiting distant relations." Nori adds to embellish the story with some more details.<br>"Some inbreds on me mother's side." Bofur continues  
>"Shut up!" The grouchy old goblin shouts.<br>"You asked for the truth, warts and all" I state as all the other dwarves stay quiet.  
>"If they will not talk, we'll make them squawk" he says loudly so all the goblins can hear him, they screech in response.<br>"They were talking, but you told them to shut up"  
>"Bring up the Mangler! Bring out the Bone Breaker! Start with the youngest." The Goblin King says annoyed, pointing at Ori.<br>"Wait!" Thorin steps forward, revealing himself.  
>"Well, well, well, look who it is. Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror; King under the Mountain." The Great Goblin bows exaggeratedly to Thorin and the goblins chuckle. "Oh, but I'm forgetting, you don't have a mountain. And you're not a king. Which makes you nobody, really." After him threatening Ori and now what he's said to Thorin I feel like a tightly stretched spring ready to snap.<br>"I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just the head, nothing attached. Perhaps you know of whom I speak, an old enemy of yours. A Pale Orc astride a White Warg."  
>Thorin looks up in surprise and disbelief. "Azog the Defiler was destroyed. He was slain in battle long ago."<br>"So you think his defiling days are done, do you?" The Goblin King laughs, then turns to a tiny goblin sitting in a basket and holding a slate.  
>"Send word to the Pale Orc; tell him I have found his prize."<br>The tiny goblin writes down the message on his slate; cackling, he then pulls a lever, causing his basket to start sliding down the rope and into the darkness.  
>The goblins keep going through our packs looking for anything of value while goblins are carrying heavy looking torture equipment towards the platform as the Goblin King sings.<br>"Bones will be shattered, necks will be wrung! You'll be beaten and battered, from racks you'll be hung. You will die down here and never be found, down in the deep of Goblin-town."  
>One of the goblins, is examining the weapons the dwarves brought with them. He picks up Thorin's sword, and slides it a few inches out of its sheath. Recognizing the sword, he gasps in horror and throws it away from himself, and onto the floor. It lands in view of all the goblins. Recognizing it, the goblins howl in fear and rage as they retreat from it. Orchrist. "I know that sword, it is the goblin cleaver" The Goblin King states loudly, pointing at the sword after retreating away from the glowing blade trampling a few smaller goblins as he cowers by his throne "the Biter, the blade that sliced a thousand necks." The Goblins begin whipping us and leaping on us so we fight back. "Slash them! Beat them! Kill them! Kill them all!"<br>A goblin jumps at Thorin who with the motion of the jump and him being able to react quickly throws it away from him, to be taken down by three, two push him to the floor holding him down, and one of them pulls out his knife and prepares to behead Thorin. "Cut off his head!"  
>I quickly grab a goblin who is in my way and bring my knee up and hit the goblin in the face and throwing it over the side, kicking another one out of my way and tackling a goblin off Thorin just before it has a chance to attack him.<p>

Suddenly, there is a massive explosion of white light and air. My ears pop and feel like they're stuffed with cotton wool and a shock-wave rips through the area, flinging goblins in the air and knocking everyone to the floor, including the Goblin King. When the force of the explosion has passed, most of the lights in the area have been snuffed out and others simply dimmed but the light slowly returns to the area as we all start to slowly look up, recovering from the blast. I feel a sharp pain in my left shoulder as I get up, pulling the dagger out with my right hand, it's nothing serious. I look to where the blast came from and see Gandalf, I'm a little surprised, but relieved that he's here.  
>"Take up arms. Fight. Fight!"<br>We quickly get up, I get grabbed by my bad shoulder and pulled to my feet, causing me to hiss in pain, I turn about to react when I realise it's Thorin, I don't waste time by thanking him because a goblin is rushing up behind him, I simply push him out of the way and use my cloak to grab the blade and wrap it around the creatures neck since it didn't stop running, I pull my cloak and kick the goblin breaking it's neck and sending it flying. I turn around just in time for my things to get thrown to me.

"He wields the Foe-Hammer, the Beater, bright as daylight!" The Goblin King gets up off the floor, surprisingly without help, and rushes towards Thorin who deflects the blow, causing him to stumble backward and fall off the edge of the platform, falling to the depths below.  
>"Follow me. Quick. Run!" Gandalf says urgently taking us down one of the smaller cave passages.<br>Cutting down the goblins around us we all follow Gandalf along a pathway leading away from the main cavern chased by hundreds if not thousands of goblins.

Dwalin, Nori, Bifur and a few other dwarves cut off a guard post and use it as a battering ram to clear the way ahead of oncoming goblins sweeping them off the path and falling into the abyss. We separate and take a higher path cutting down any goblin that comes near us but joining up with the others fairly quickly.  
>"Thorin!" I call spotting goblins up on a higher path about to swing towards us and a large group of them up above us getting ready to shoot.<br>"Cut the ropes" he calls back. We cut the supporting ropes and the section of path above us starts to fall, colliding with the swinging goblins who get wrapped up before being pulled down by the weight of the wood. We continue along the path, following Gandalf, the goblins are blocking our path and Gandalf takes out the first few but others drop down behind him from the path above Thorin takes care of those and as he keeps following some drop behind him which I dispatch. We have to fight off a fair few before quickly regrouping with the others. I jump down after Dwalin who's standing waiting for the others who are running towards a gap in the path with ladders, they drop the ladder, Dwaling putting his foot on it to stop them from bouncing under the footsteps of the dwarves. After they're all across Dwalin knocks the ladders off the gap as a goblin is crossing and both ladders and goblin go plummeting into the depths. We keep running, following Gandalf, not really sure where we're going but trusting that Gandalf knows what he's doing. We get to a path that hasn't been finished being built yet, I nearly ran straight off, thankfully Bofur grabbed me to stop me. Kill cuts a rope and the section of the path we're on starts to swing to the other side, turning around as it swings. "Jump!" Thorin shouts and a few of them jump to the other part of the path. Now we're swinging back and facing the goblins, some jump on but one mistimes his jump and just fails to get onto the swinging platform. We fight the goblins a little to push them back as we swing. We turn around and jump onto the stable part of the path Fili cuts the rope causing the goblins to start falling, Thorin grabs him to prevent him from falling into the depth with them.

We keep running, still being pursued by countless goblins, killing any in our way. Gandalf sees an opportunity and takes it, breaking away a large bolder from the cave "Push!" Thorin shouts as we all start pushing the rock down the path, crushing any goblins stupid enough to keep running towards it, falling off the edge, clearing our path for the moment. We fight for all we're worth, skewering, beheading, killing the goblins in our way however we can. We come to a bridge, after what seems like endless running through goblin infested caves it looks like we may nearly be out.  
>As we're halfway across the goblin King bursts out from under the bridge causing us all to stop suddenly, panting a little from the running and fighting. He growls and smiles after preventing our escape.<br>"You thought you could escape me?" he swings his staff at Gandalf who dodges the two blows, causing the wizard to stumble back and almost fall but to be prevented from falling by us who make sure he stays standing. "What are you going to do now, wizard?"

Gandalf lunges forward and strikes the Goblin King in the eye with his staff. The Great Goblin drops his club and clutches his face in pain sounding sort of like a child who has stubbed their little toe.  
>Gandalf steps forward and slices the belly of the defenceless goblin who falls to his knees, clutching his belly. "That'll do it." he says nodding, seemingly hoping the wizard won't kill him. Gandalf only pauses for a moment but again swings his sword and slices the Great Goblin's throat. He clutches his throat as he falls face first onto the bridge, choking a little before falling silent, dead.<p>

His weight causes the bridge to loose stability and start straining and shaking as it starts to fall apart, the section we're stood on breaks away from the rest of the bridge and starts sliding down the side of the cavern, demolishing everything on the way down. We hold on to whatever we can, including each other, while trying to keep balanced some screaming a little at the rapid descent all of us no doubt hoping we survive as the bridge is breaking apart under us causing some dwarves to end up on the lower two parts of the bridge. The bridge hits an oncoming wall after a short moment of airtime and continues sliding, this time between two walls slowing it down and shaking us about a fair bit before dropping at the base of the cavern, flattening and dropping debris all over us.  
>"I think I got splinters in my backside" I say with a little chuckle to try and lighten the mood, thankful to be alive. I can't help but look at Bofur who laughs a little before the part of wood I'm holding onto breaks and I fall out of the rubble and onto Thorin with a painful groan from the both of us. Gandalf gets up from the pile of wreckage and inspects the rest of us, most of who are a little stuck in the lumber heap.<br>"Well, that could have been worse" Bofur says a little chirpy.  
>And so, the heavy lump of flesh and boils that was the Goblin King lands on top of the once-was bridge, crushing the lot of them a little.<br>"You've got to be joking!" Dwalin says in disbelief. I get up, helping Thorin up before helping Bofur.  
>"Gandalf!" Kill shouts drawing all our attention. I look up hearing the goblins screeching.. with the fear of our lives from the fall we had all forgotten about the goblin hoard above us.<br>"There's too many, we can't fight them" Dwalin says as he is helping Nori up.  
>"There's only one thing that will save us: Daylight" Gandalf states "Come on! Here, on your feet" He says as he helps Oin out of the rubble. We all help whoever is a little stuck before starting to run the only way we can; through a thin passage way, up ahead daylight is shining through. Gandalf stops a little and makes sure we're all following. Once outside we're blinded a little from being in the dark so long, it's late afternoon and it looks like the sun is setting, we keep running down a mountainside covered with grass and trees, having to jump and skip through the long grass a little and also avoiding trees.<p>

We stop once far enough away that we can't be shot by arrows if the goblins come near the exit, we slow down so we can stop to catch our breath, Gandalf counting the company "Five, six, seven, eight...Bifur, Bofur...that's ten...Fili, Kili...that's twelve...and Bombur - that makes thirteen. Where's Bilbo? Where is our Hobbit?" everyone looks around and Bilbo doesn't answer so the wizard raises his voice no doubt worried for the little man "Where is our hobbit?!" Gandalf asks looking around for the little fellow. "Bil...Bilbo?" I ask looking around frantically still trying to catch my breath, when I don't see him I lean off the tree I was leaning against "Bilbo?"

"Curse the halfling! Now he's lost?!" Dwalin says sounding fed up  
>"I thought he was with Dori!" Gloin says acusingly<br>"Don't blame me!" Dori says in his own defence  
>"If he's not here I need to go and find him" I say starting to walk a little<br>"Well, where did you last see him?" Gandalf asks Dori, I stop and look around to see what he has to say  
>"I think I saw him slip away, when they first collared us." Nori says remembering<br>"He's still up there?" I ask worried about the Hobbit  
>"What happened exactly? Tell me!" Gandalf asks wanting an answer.<br>"I'll tell you what happened; Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it! He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since first he stepped out of his door! We will not be seeing our Hobbit again. He is long gone." Thorin says distastefully  
>I walk over to Thorin and slap him earning a few gasps from a few of the dwarves and awkward looks from others "And what is it that we all think of if not home?! He wasn't forced out of his home and abandoned by his own people, alone for sixty years longing to return to the place he belongs" I say simply, he looks surprised but I don't give him time to respond since I turn and start to walk back up the mountain. I don't even care if I have just broken what little trust he might have gained in me "I am going to find Bilbo, and when I do I'm taking him home, he doesn't deserve this from you, neither of us do" I say finally fed up of his mood towards us. I have to find Bilbo, I need to find him, I promised I'd keep him safe. If he's hurt... Or worse... It's on me... I don't think I would be able to live with another broken promise to keep someone safe.<br>"I only hope he isn't dead" I say simply, more to myself but out loud.  
>"No, he isn't" a voice says causing us all to look, it's none other than the Hobbit himself.<br>I can't help but hug the hobbit in relief. He's a little shocked but hugs back a little, I let him go and breathe a sigh of relief.  
>"Bilbo Baggins. I have never been so relieved to see anyone in my life" Gandalf says laughing a little as he speaks.<br>"You had me so worried" I say smiling a little. I look back at Thorin who looks a little embarrassed, and he has a red cheek where I slapped him, good, I hope it hurt, I can only hope he stopped being so harsh, to Bilbo at least, I don't care any more if he's going to be the same, or worse with me.  
>Bilbo pats Balin on the shoulder smiling.<br>"Bilbo, we'd given you up!" Kili says surprised.  
>"Well, we had, Chase didn't, she was ready to storm back in there and take on an army of Goblins to find you" Bofur adds.<br>"How on earth did you get past the Goblins?" Fili asks astounded  
>"How, indeed." Dwalin says sounding deep in thought.<br>Bilbo doesn't give an answer, he just points to Thorin and Dwalin and chuckles a little.  
>"Well, what does it matter? He's back!" Gandalf says happily, also trying to change the subject.<br>"It matters! I want to know. Why did you come back?" Thorin asks unsure.  
>If he makes one snide comment I won't hesitate to give him another red cheek to match the first...<br>"Look, I know you doubt me, I know you always have. And you're right, I often think of Bag End. I miss my books. And my armchair. And my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home. And that's why I came back, cause you don't have one. A home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can." Bilbo says smiling looking around at the company, but mostly at Thorin.  
>After Bilbo speaks, there is silence as we think about what has just been said. I can't help but smile, the shy, unsure hobbit who would rather stay safely in his house and stick to what he knows has changed so much.<p> 


	17. Out Of The Frying Pan

We hardly get chance to catch our breath and be thankful that we're not going to be killed by Goblins when we hear a loud howling coming from up the mountain. I turn and look back the way we ran, I need to make sure I keep an eye on Bilbo, I'm not going to nearly have a heart attack again thinking that I've failed to protect him.

"Wargs" I say more to myself than anything, stating the obvious that we already knew  
>"Out of the frying pan..." Thorin starts to say<br>"...and into the fire!" Gandalf says, finishing the well known quote. "Run! RUN!"  
>We don't wait a second more, we start to run down the mountainside as fast as we can, not looking back, the sun is setting. We know we have no hope at outrunning the wargs so hopefully we will all survive and kill all the beasts before night falls.<p>

These creatures are known for their speed so they swiftly catch up to us, we look back to make sure we're not about to be turned into dogfood and just in time, we manage to move out of the way of one warg which keeps running, jumping over a large rock and targeting Bilbo. I run towards them drawing my sword but rather than being able to help Bilbo another warg jumps at me, I look back as I hear it's heavy paws on the ground and duck as it jumps, taking a swipe at me, missing by an inch. I reach quickly and raise my blade, piercing it's underside as it flies over me, it's momentum causes my sword to cut right through it's belly, showering me in it's blood, thankfully nothing else, as it lands it does a forward somersault as it becomes lifeless. I look over at Bilbo looking rather traumatised at the dead warg in front of him with his sword embedded into it's skull. I sigh relieved and notice a few other dead beasties around

"Up into the trees, all of you! Come on, climb! Bilbo, climb! Chase, climb" Gandalf says and as I look over to him I realise that we're at a cliff edge. Bifur throws an axe, narrowly missing me and killing a Warg which was fast approaching the group. We start to climb, I jump and grab a branch with my right hand and go to swing my left up but because of the wound it only gets so far, causing extreme agony, enough to result in me letting go of the tree and grasping my shoulder.  
>"They're coming!" Thorin shouts as the dwarves are jumping into trees and helping each other into them.<br>"Bilbo!" I say noticing the Hobbit has just pulled his sword out of the warg he had impaled. I run over to him and give him a boost into a tree, quickly following up another tree with help from Thorin, dragging me up by the back of my collar when I got so far, I climb a little higher but unable to use my left arm very much, making it difficult.

A countless number of wargs circle the trees growling and barking, The Wargs cease their commotion and turn as a White Warg, with a pale orc on its back, approaches slowly covered in scars and one arm cut off to the elbow with a metal replacement.

"Azog?!" Thorin says in disbelief, swiping a branch out of the way so he can see whether his eyes are deceiving him or White Warg growls, Azog strokes it and speaks ominously. I look at Thorin who is on the branch on the other side of the tree at the same level as I am. He looks stricken with pain and grief, realizing that Azog, the orc who killed his grandfather and is presumed to have killed his father, the creature he thought had died long ago, is still alive."It cannot be..." he says still in disbelief. The pale orc points with his mace to Thorin and speaks, rallying his wargs which start to try and climb the trees, snapping and snarling, breaking off the lower branches jumping as high as they can to try and get to us shaking the trees as they do. I have to pretty much hug the tree to keep from falling off from the lack of use I have in my left arm, but it's not much good. Azog speaks again, I don't understand what he is saying but I know Gandalf knows.

With the weight of the Wargs trying to climb and shaking the trees the roots loosen the soil causing the tree Bilbo and a few others are in to fall towards another tree, they jump to the next tree and with the weight of another tree leaning against it and dwarves and a hobbit on the same tree, plus the wargs shaking it around and their weight pushing it over, the same happens to that tree, it gets uprooted causing everyone to have to jump to the next tree until we're all in the same tree, the one on the very end of the cliff. I'm holding on by mostly my chin and arm before being pulled up onto the branch properly by Dwalin.

This tree hasn't had much warg activity since it's on the edge of the cliff and only one warg can jump up it at a time. Thankfully this tree doesn't fall. I don't fancy falling a few thousand feet to our deaths. One of the trees we were in tumbles off the cliff leaving quite a big space where the trees once were stood, now lying on the ground. Azog laughs at our predicament, either way it seems like we're going to die, death by wargs, or death by falling. Suddenly a small fireball is thrown down amid the Wargs, who retreat in fear of what seems to be a burning pinecone that lights up the dry wood and leaves scattered around the floor. Azog is startled and angry at the unexpected resistance. I look up to Gandalf who is lighting two more pinecones.  
>"Fili!" Gandalf says getting the attention of the two siblings, he drops the burning projectile to the dwarf and another to Kili.<br>Fili catches the pinecone and has to keep changing hands to avoid burning his fingers as Bilbo and the others light more from the burning ones. I may not be able to use my left arm to throw, but I can move it enough to hold on a little and use my balance to keep myself steady while I throw flaming pinecones at the wargs. The fire seems to drive the wargs away, some burning and running away yelping and wining.

Azog, furious, roars in anger some of the dwarves cheer, but the celebration is brief. The tree beings to tip over the cliff with the weight of so many straining the roots. The cheers turn into cries of fear as the roots can't hold such a strain. It tips and stops causing Ori to loose his grip and start to fall, he manages tograb onto Dori's leg so he doesn't fall to his death. I look down and see the ground far below. But the tree hasn't stopped yet, it continues to tip, it's roots trying to hold onto the ground. I loose my grip, Thorin grabs my wrist and manages to pull me up so I'm holding on by my arms, Bilbo trying to help me the rest of the way while also making sure he doesn't fall.  
>"Mister Gandalf!" Dori calls just before he falls, Gandalf quickly holds out his staff and the dwarf grabs onto the end of it for dear life. "Hold on, Ori!" he calls fighting to keep his grip.<br>Thorin, clinging to the tree and making sure I don't fall, looks at Azog in hate and anger. He pulls himself up, his sword drawn, and walks down the large tree trunk towards the Pale Orc. I pull myself up so that it's easier to hold on and that I don't need Bilbo's help. I see Thorin running towards Azog who is smiling at the Dwarf Prince's actions. I can feel my heart thundering hoping he'll manage to kill his enemy, but fearing for his life at the same time. Thorin yells as he runs, ready to attack, and to defend himself. The White Warg jumps at the dwarf knocking him to the floor before coming around to attack. I feel my breath catch in the back of my throat as I watch, but with not a second thought I pull with all my strength, my arm causing extreme agony as I pull myself back onto the tree

Thorin gets back to his feet as Azog and his Warg charge at him the orc swinging his mace smashes Thorin in the chest and face before Thorin can react. The Dwarf Prince is brutally bashed to thr ground by the blow.  
>Azog roars in joy as the White Warg clamps its jaws around Thorin who yells in pain. Dwalin shouts and tries to get off and tree to assist but as he clambers up hurridly the tree branche he is holding on to breaks, swinging him precariously over the edge.<br>As the Warg holds Thorin in it's jaws, the dwarf Prince manages to hit the beast's head with the pommel of his sword causing the creature to throw him. Thorin lands heavily on a rock, no doubt winding him, adding to his current injuries.

I manage to pull myself up fully and notice the Hobbit rushing to Thorin's aid who is about to be decapitated by one of Azog's minions. I draw my sword and rush after the brave little Hobbit, Raising his blade the orc prepares to decapitate Thorin who seems to be struggling to move. As he swings his sword down, Bilbo throws himself at the orc and knocks him over. The orc goes to attack once regaining his balance but the plucky little Hobbit stabs the orc before it can harm him. I thought for a moment there that Bilbo was going to get himself killed. Azog growls in anger, and yells at another orc , pointing to Thorin. The orc quickly heads over to Thorin as Bilbo is attacking the previous orc, raising his sword to behead Thorin I deflect the orc's blade, knocking it out of it's grip, it flies past Azog who moves quickly to dodge it killing a rider behind him before I decapitate the orc who I had just dissarmed. I look back to Thorin who Bilbo is standing defensively in front of, Thorin looks unconcious as the Hobbit waves his sword around wildly, warningly.

Azog and the wargs start to close in on Bilbo and Azog who I stand next to but in front of slightly, protectively. They'll have to go through me to get to either of them. Azog speaks and the orcs, riding wargs, start to close in on us when the Fili, Kili and Dwalin come out of nowhere, battles cries and weapons raised. Surprising the orcs and the wargs alike. I stay as close to Bilbo as possible while we each fight a warg rider, avoiding the teeth and claws of their mounts. I roll out of the way of the warg as it swipes at me, narrowly missing being behedded by the orc rider as I stand back up, falling backwards a little against a rock which I quickly have to climb on causing the warg to headbut the rock rather than biting me. I jump on the back of the overgrown wolf killing the rider by breaking his neck. The warg starts to jump around trying to get me off it's back so I have to hold onto it's fur, while holding my sword and squeezing my knees together, to keep in place. Balance is one of my strong points, it comes after years of breaking in horses when I used to work with them before what happened to Erebor. The warg seems to tire so I make my move and stab it in the head, killing it instantly, dropping to it's belly. I look over to Bilbo who is being approached by Azog and his warg.

An eagle swoops out of nowhere and pick up a couple of wargs and their riders and drop them over the cliff. Others knock down trees, crushing wargs and burning others if the wood is ablaze. Another Eagle fans the flames with its wings, directing the flames towards more of the wargs burning them and causing a lot of them to run for their lives. Azog snarls in frustration. One Eagle flies over to the unconscious, wounded Thorin and gently picks him up then flying away. As Thorin is lifted off the ground, his oaken branch shield slips off his arm and lands on the ground. Another Eagle heads straight for an alarmed Bibo and snatches him off the ground as another picks me up from behind as I watch to make sure Bilbo is safe, startling me. Bilbo, screams as he is dropped by the eagle that picked him up, only to land on the back of another. I feel myself hold my breath as I am let go by the giant majestic bird. It's either hold my breath or scream and I can't bring myself to scream. I land on the back of another eagle and breath a sigh of relief. The rest of the Eagles proceed to pick up the dwarves out of the tree. When only Gandalf is left in the tree, the roots give way and the tree falls off the edge of the cliff. The wizard leaps clear of it and is caught by another Eagle. I sit up a little, leaning forward and holding on, I manage to put my sword away with little trouble, and I look at all the eagle's looking at who they're carrying, but when my eyes find Thorin I can't stop looking on in worry, he's not moving, I hope that he's alright, I feel a lump in my throat at the thought that he won't be alright, but I try and push that thought aside.

I can't help but look around a little as we soar through the sky, through the night sky, throught the moonlight clouds. The air is cool up so high, flying right near the top of the mountains. We fly for hours, until the sun starts to rise, and still Thorin hasn't moved, Fili calls for his uncle to try and get a response for him but still nothing. Flying above the clouds and mountains one of the eagles call and the smooth level flight becomes a little bit bumpy, the eagles turn and fly over a mountain peek before tilting down, their speed increasing, I lie on the back of the large bird feeling like I'll get pulled off by the wind otherwise. They fly through the valley, heading towards a large rock formation in the centre of the vale. The eagle carrying Thorin places him on the top of the rock as the rest of us circle while Gandalf dismounts and rushes over to Thorin.

Thorin is not responding. The rest of us dismount the eagles when they land on the rock, I had heard about this magnificent birds, but I never thought I would see one, let alone fly on the back of one. I say thank you to the bird before sliding off it's back and standing about a meter behind Bilbo, I dare not move closer as I see Thorin still lying there. Gandalf puts his hand over his face and I hear him whisper something. Is he dead? He can't be dead. "Don't be dead" I say to myself, no one can hear me, thankfully, but we're all no doubt thinking the same thing. But then his eyelids flutter open. We all breathe a sigh of relief as we see his eyes open.  
>"The halfling?" he asks weakly<br>"It's all right. Bilbo is here. He's quiet safe." Gandalf says reasuringly.  
>Thorin starts to move so he can stand, Dwalin and Kili help him, however, once he's on his feet, he shrugs them off and looks at Bilbo. "You! What were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed! Did I not say that you would be a burden? That you would not survive in the wild and that you had no place amongst us?" He says as he walks towards the hobbit. And just like that he's back to his old self, does he even realise Bilbo just saved his life?!<br>"I've never been so wrong in all my life!" he embraces Bilbo, smiling, I'm surprised, completely.  
>He backs up a little "I am sorry I doubted you." He says sinceerely.<br>"No, I would have doubted me too. I'm not a hero or a warrior...not even a burglar." Bilbo replies looking at Gandalf for the last part. Everyone chuckles, and then Thorin looks at me, seriously. "And you," he says indistinguishably. I mentally sigh, well, at least Bilbo isn't going to get grief anymore, I'm happy about that. Bilbo moves to one side as Thorin walks towards me. "even after how I have treated you, you still risked your life to save mine, I have mistrusted you, and for that, I am sorry"  
>I'm speechless, I really don't know what to say. Think of something! "In that case, I apologise that I had hit you" I say holding out my had for him to shake.<br>"No, I deserved that" he says quietly, taking my hand but hugging me at the same time, I'm surprised and hug back slightly, seeing as it's my bad arm that I have to move. We both move away at the same time and nod at each other.

The Eagles screech as they fly away, I look at them smiling, they're amazing creatures.  
>"Is that what I think it is? I hear Bilbo say. I look around to see the Hobbit and Thorin looking off in the distance while walking towards the end of the rock. I follow and on the horizon I see a single solitary peek<br>"Erebor - The Lonely Mountain. The last of the great dwarf kingdoms of Middle-Earth." Gandalf says.  
>I stand besides Thorin as I look at the place I haven't seen for so many years<br>"Our home." Thorin says happily. Lost in thoughts of the happier days the only time I look away is when I hear the sound of a bird chirrup, I look as it flies by.  
>"A raven! The birds are returning to the mountain." Oin says as we all watch the bird flying off into the distance, tweeting happily.<br>"That, my dear Oin, is a thrush." Gandalf corrects, politely.  
>"But we'll take it as a sign, a good omen." Thorin says smiling.<br>"You're right. I do believe the worst is behind us." Bilbo says happily  
>We all linger looking out at the landscape with Erebor directly in front of us, soon all that we've been waiting for will finally happen, we'll finally have a home again.<br>"I suggest we start trying to find a way to climb down from up here, while we have got the light" I say after thinking about it, climbing in the dark would not be a good idea. "It might take a full day to get to the bottom"  
>"Yes, I have to agree" Gandalf says nodding "Although there are steps over here" he says heading "But don't mind me, you can climb down if you wish" he says jesting lightly. We all follow walking towards the steps that are carved into the rock, but have been worn away over many years, I think to myself who could have created the steps, and why, but the view is amazing.<p>

Once we're down at the bottom it's decided that we rest here in a cave in the base of the rock formation.  
>"Since we're resting here for the rest of the day and the night I'm going taking a bath in the river, I stink" I chuckle, holding my pack on my back over my good shoulder, once I clean the wound I'm going to have to sew it, I should have suitable thread and needles in my bag. It should be fine once closed, I am quite surprised I hadn't passed out from blood loss, I feel numb and light headed now that all the adrenalin has worn off, and I feel like I could sleep for a week, I'll be achy after a rest that's for sure, as for my arm I doubt I will be able to use it for a few days. I get to the river and sit down next to it and just sit quietly, listening to the water flow, I close my eyes, smiling. Despite everything that has happened I actually feel content<p> 


	18. Let Bygones Be Bygones

After washing myself and my clothes and stitching myself up I had simply been sitting, listening, wearing my spare clothes while my others dry.  
>"Chase?" I hear a voice call, it brings me out of my thoughts. I stand up grabbing my things and head towards the voice. "Chase?" he calls again, once I get closer I realise it's Kili.<br>"I'm here Kili" I say pushing aside a small shrub.  
>"You've been gone a while, I thought I would come and check up on you, to see that you are alright" he explains.<br>"Don't worry, there's not a problem, I was just caught up in thinking, thank you" I smile  
>"That is a relief to hear." he nods a little. "back on that mountain it looked like you were injured..?" he says questioningly<br>"It's fine, really, it's nothing to worry about, but seeing as you're so concerned you can walk me back to camp" I say slightly teasingly, with a smile.  
>"It would be my pleasure" he says smiling back at me.<br>"How is your uncle?" I ask as we start to walk back to camp  
>"He wouldn't admit it but he is in pain, but he does seem a lot more pleasant, he's smiling more, you've missed a few stories that Balin has told, I think everyone is getting ready for an early night now after the past few days events" he says<br>I give him a bit of a look without him noticing, he would actually make a good king, him and his brother are born to it, that is true, but being born to it and having a heart for it is something that is sorely lacking amongst most, especially a lot of humans. "You're a lot like your uncle, you know? When he was younger at least, don't tell him I told you, he wouldn't admit it" I chuckle.  
>"Oh you think so?" he asks smiling. I nod<br>"Charming little prince who is brave and reckless but has good intentions at heart"  
>"So you think I am charming do you?" he asks smirking cheekily<br>"Don't let it go to your head, I will never hear the end of it" I tease.  
>"Oh but it has already gone to my head, if you can not tell" he chuckles.<br>"Don't make me have to duel you again to keep it from going any further to your head, we know I would beat you" I say playfully.  
>"Unless we were wrestling then that may be the case, and last time you weren't wounded so this time I have an advantage" he teases<br>"Oh here we go, the not so charming is coming out now, I could still beat you with one arm" I laugh "You do know you're supposed to go easy on women" I say playfully.  
>"Maybe I will, if you start acting like a woman"<br>"The cheek!" I laugh "We know that's never going to happen"  
>"Never say never, sooner or later it will happen" he chuckle<p>

I hear merriment coming from the camp and look ahead to see the fire through the trees. Bofur is singing and a few of the other dwarves along with him, as we get closer I see a few of them dancing around the fire and around the camp.  
>"Settling down to sleep?" I ask giving Kili a look, amused.<br>"I did say I think" he chuckles.  
>We walk into camp and there's a few cheers and they raise mugs and I tilt my head a little before being dragged over to the fire by Fili who is dancing, my arm stings at the sudden motion but the antiseptic paste numbs it quickly and so I join in with dancing as Kili laughs and starts clapping his hand to the beat of the song. Gandalf laughs as he smokes his pipe and when I notice Bilbo I pull him up to dance, he's a little reluctant but soon he is also dancing. Food had been cooked, a dear I think it was, Bombur is just sitting off to the side eating. I dance around the fire but bump into someone, I look automatically and see Thorin, as if he has purposely stood in the way.<br>He's looking at me with a plain facial expression before smiling and stepping backwards and holding his hand out. I'm a little unsure at first but then I take his hand and he starts dancing around the fire with me. A few of the others laugh but he doesn't seem to mind, he's just had a near death experience, why should he worry about his kin laughing at him while they are all enjoying themselves? Even without any ale, which is surprising.

It's getting late, a lot of the dwarves are already asleep, others are just sitting around.  
>I'm sitting leaning against a lone, dead tree, smiling and looking up at the stars. I can't stop thinking about Thorin dancing and smiling, he hasn't been that happy in a long time it seems.<br>"Chase?" I look around to see Thorin.  
>"Thorin?" I say a little surprised.<br>"I f it is alright with you, I would like to talk, we have not really spoken much since this journey began"he says "May I?" he asks motioning to the floor next to me.  
>I nod and shuffle to the side a little so he can lean on the tree trunk.<br>"There is so much to say, I do not even know where to start." He says after sitting down. "What happened to you? You're not the same person I remember."  
>I have to bite my tongue so I don't say something stupid.<br>"I grew up, I can't keep daydreaming forever, can I? I always wanted a more exciting life. If you remember. Well there's a human saying, 'be careful what you wish for'. I got my wish. In a way. After everything that happened... How could I just live a simple life after being helpless to defend our home? So, I trained for a few years before going out and becoming a warg hunter, I then became a mercenary, of a sort, eventually I just became a wanderer roaming from town to town, drinking, brawling..." I shrug "You only have so much get up and go, you know? I think this is more a conversation to have over a drink. We should turn in for the night, no doubt we'll have a hard days journey tomorrow" I say standing up "Goodnight Thorin" I say before walking over to my bedroll and settling down. Wiping the tears away that are threatening to escape.


	19. Birds, Bears and Beorn

It's been a few weeks since the events on the mountain and Azog and his warg riders have finally caught up to us, we heard their howling and Thorin sent Blilbo to go and check on how close they are to us. I hear him coming back and I stand up off the rock I was sitting on, I sigh relieved when I see him. But he looks a little worried. Thorin doesn't give him chance to catch his breath before asking him how close the pack is. Since he's heard the wargs howling he's been quite edgy.  
>"Too close. A couple of leagues, no more, but that is not the worst of it." Bilbo says as he tries to catch his| breath.<br>"Have the Wargs picked up our scent?" Dwalin asks the Hobbit who stands in the middle of the company trying to catch his breath.  
>"Not yet, but they will. We have another problem." Bilbo states<br>"What is is Bilbo?" I ask, he's trying to say something but no one is listening, he keeps getting asked questions.  
>"Did they see you? They saw you!" Gandalf says worried he was seen.<br>"No, that's not it." Bilbo says still trying to catch his breath.  
>Gandalf nods smiling and turns to the dwarves. "What did I tell you? Quiet as a mouse. Excellent burglar material."<br>The dwarves converse loudly in appreciation of Bilbo's stealthiness. Bilbo looks exasperated that no one is hearing him out.  
>"Will you listen- Will you just listen?" Everyone quietens down and listens to what the Hobbit has to say. "I'm trying to tell you there is something else out there." he says pointing back up the mountain where he came from.<br>"What form did it take? Like a bear?" Gandalf asks with a knowing look on his face.  
>"Ye..." Bilbo pauses and looks curiously at Gandalf. "Y- yes. But bigger, much bigger."<br>"You knew about this beast?" Bofur asks Gandalf acusingly.  
>"What is it Gandalf?" I ask as he turns and turns and walks a few steps away, looking into the distance<br>"I say we double back." Bofur says worried about this creature Bilbo mentioned.  
>"And be run down by a pack of Orcs." Thorin reminds him.<br>What other option do we have? We can't go back now" I say as a matter of fact.  
>"There is a house, it's not far from here, where we might take refuge." Gandalf says turning back around to the company.<br>"Whose house? Are they friend or foe?" Thorin asks  
>"Neither. He will help us, or he will kill us." Gandalf says reluctantly, he looks concerned as he speaks.<br>"What choice do we have?" Thorin asks wondering about our options.  
>A roar pierces the silent night causing all to turn and look back the way Bilbo came from, it can only be the bear.<br>"None." Gandalf says simply.  
>"Move, quickly!" Thorin says to the company, urgently, we all quickly start to follow Gandalf. We run down the mountain, over plains and through streams. All the walking and climbing we have been doing have more than trained us for our long hours of running.<br>"Come on!" Gandalf calls from ahead, occasionally stopping and making sure we're all still following.  
>"Not far now, hurry!" Gandalf shouts as we run through a forest. Suddenly an ear-splitting roar sounds close by from behind us causing us to stop and turn around.<br>"This way, quickly!" Gandalf shouts.  
>The dwarves panic and run, I make sure to stay near The Hobbit protectively.<br>The trees start thinning out and once we clear the thick of the trees a house in a large plain sits just away from the forest surrounded by a hedge.  
>"To the house! Run!" Gandalf shouts urging us onwards.<br>We run over the plain to the house, Bombur outrunning all of us, surprising for a dwarf of his build.

"Come on, get inside!" Gandalf says as he stops at the gate making sure we all get into the garden. We run through the gate in the high hedge, heading straight for the front door of the house. Bombur, reaches the door first, running straight into it without stopping, falling onto his back. The rest of the dwarves catch up and begin throwing themselves against the door, trying to open it.  
>"Open the door!" Gandalf says urging them to hurry up.<br>"Quickly!" Thorin shouts as he runs through the company I look back to the bear who I can see charging towards the gate. Bilbo has to pull me inside as the doors get opened since I'm too busy looking at the rampaging bear. Once everyone is inside the house they start to close the doors but the bear manages to wedge it's large head in the doors as as a lot of them try to close the door against the weight of the bear. Bilbo pulls out his sword and points it unsteadily at the bear.  
>The bear must give up because the dwarves manage to close the door and put the bar down to keep it out.<br>"What is that?" Ori asks looking around shocked  
>"That is our host." Gandalf says simply, he looks around amused at our bewildered expressions. "His name is Beorn, and he is a skin-changer." Gandalf continues<br>"Sometimes he's a huge black bear; sometimes he's a great strong man. The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with. However, he is not overfond of dwarves."  
>The dwarves look at each other in dismay. Ori peaks out a crack in the door.<br>"He's leaving!" Ori says thankful  
>Dori pulls him away from the door worried it's some kind of trick. "Come away from there! It's not natural, none of it. It's obvious: he's under some dark spell."<br>"Don't be a fool; he's under no enchantment but his own." Gandalf says simply "Alright now, get some sleep, all of you. You'll be safe here tonight." And quietly, he adds "I hope" My elvish hearing picking it up, I look at him and he looks worried.  
>After all this running my arm is throbbing, it feels like I may have broken a few of the stitches if not all of them, I'll need to check on it.<br>"Are you alright?" Thorin asks walking over to me noticing my pained expression.  
>I look up at him surprised and nod "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, just my shoulder playing up" I admit.<br>"Would you like me to take a look at it?" he asks  
>"No, thank you, I'll manage" I nod appreciatively of the offer of assistance. He nods in reply and goes to check on the others. As I look around I notice there are rather large bees flying around the room and there are goats and cows in a small stable joined onto the house, without a partition wall. The person or people who live here seem to like things to be quite large. I find a quiet corner and check on the damage on my stitched to see if they need anything done, thankfully they're fine, surprisingly<p> 


	20. Of Orcs And Dwarves

I say we should leg it, slip out the back way" Nori suggests, his shoulder is grabbed by Dwalin, who protests the idea of fleeing on account of his pride. "I am not running from anyone, beast or no"  
>"We wouldn't be able to get far anyway, you all saw the speed of the bear, if we run either him or the orcs will run us down" I say trying to reason with Nori and Dwalin who are about to start arguing.<br>"There is no point in arguing, we cannot pass through the wilderland without Beorn's help, like Chase has already said we will be hunted down before we even get to the forest. Bilbo, there you are. Now, this will require some delicate handling" Gandalf says shimying through the company towards the door. "We must tread very carefully, the last person to have startled him was torn to shreds"  
>Beorn can be heard chopping wood out the back where he has been since the early hours of the morning, he hadn't harmed us while we slept so maybe that's a good thing..?<br>"I will go first and Bilbo, you'll come with me" Gandalf says pointing at the Hobbit. Bibo stammers and shimmies through the crowd of Dwarves at the door "I... Is this a good idea...?" The hobbit asks reluctantly as he moves towards the wizard.  
>"Yes, now the rest of you just wait here and don't come out until the signal"Gandalf says ushering the Burglar through the door.<br>"Right, wait for the signal" Bofur says from behind the group, I hadn't realised he was at a window watching the large man outside all this time. "And no sudden movements, or loud noises, and don't overcrowd him, only come out in pairs" He's about to leave but turns back as Bombur eats a carrot "Oh actually Bombur you count as two so you come out alone" Bombur nods and grunts quietly in reply "Remember, wait for the signal" he says as he leaves  
>"What signal would that be?" Bofur asks just a little late, Gandalf and The hobbit have already left the building, we all look around unsure of what the signal is, some of the Dwarves who are smiling end up looking just as confused as the rest of us.<p>

I go over to Bofur to look out of the window to see what happening, I can't stand just standing idly by.  
>Gandalf and Bilbo are walking slowly towards the rather large man, I hear Bilbo comment that Gandalf is nervous, and I would have to agree, he does seem less composed than normal. He greets the large man twice before he turns around and asks who he is. There's a little bit of talking, Gandalf being ever so polite but the towering man looks less than happy. Bilbo has been hiding behind Gandalf all this time and when Beorn asks about him he holds his axe ready to attack and asks if he's a dwarf. I move away from the window and to the door, quickly, in case he's not convinced that the Hobbit is, in fact, not a dwarf. I feel someone place their hand on my good shoulder firmly holding me back in case I was about to run out. I turn around noticing that it's Dwalin.<p>

"There it is, go, go, go" Bofur says quickly, Dwalin and Balin move past me and out into the garden and Beorn raises his axe and he sees the two dwarves. Gandalf manages to talk him down, but the large man still looks displeased.  
>"Next two, go" Bofur says as Oin and Gloin now exit.<br>"And here are some more of out happy troop" Gandalf says in a semi cheery way  
>"And do you call six a troop?" Gandalf chuckles a little trying to lighten the mood<br>"What are you a travelling circus?" Beorn asks not in the best of moods.  
>Bofur signals two more to go so Ori and Dori take their leave of the house and join the others outside, Dori introducing them both. "At your service" he says bowing politely<br>"I don't want your service" the arge man says fed up of all the dwarves in his home.  
>Bofur tells Fili and Kili to go and they walk out.<br>"Right, now the rest of us" Bofur says running over to us and he, myself, Nori, Bifur and Bomber stand with the rest of the company. Bofur grabs a bib off Bombur to try and hide the fact that he's been eating.  
>"Is that it?" Beorn asks asks looking between the wizard and the rest of us. "Are there anymore?" he asks as Thorin walks out. Beorn has a look of recognition on his face when he sees Thorin. After a long silence the large man grumbles and suddenly embeds his axe in the stump before walking towards the house, the dwarves part as he gets to them and he enters his home.<br>"Gandalf?" Bofur says unsure what to make of what just happened. "Is that a good thing"  
>"I would say so" the wizard says looking rather relieved<p>

The Dwarves follow into the house after Gandalf and Beorn, he's put a few bowls and mugs on the table. The dwarves look to Gandalf who nods and sits down on one of the chairs and the dwarves soon make themselves comfortable.  
>"So you are the one they call Oakenshield. Tell me, why is Azog the Defiler hunting you?" Beorn asks as he fills up mugs with milk for the dwarves.<br>"You know of Azog? How?" Thorin asks the now surprisingly hospitable man.  
>"My people were the first to live in the mountains, before the Orcs came down from the north. The Defiler killed most of my family, but some he enslaved." it's then when I notice the remains of manacles his left wrist and he holds the milk jug. "Not for work, you understand, but for sport. Caging skin-changers and torturing them seemed to amuse him." he explains before pouring milk into Ori's mug.<br>"There are others like you?" The ever inquisitive Bilbo asks, interested in his story.  
>"Once, there were many." Beorn says sorrowfully.<br>"And now?" Bilbo asks, as if the answer was not clear already.  
>"Now, there is only one."<br>One of the white mice that are crawling around starts to crawl over my hand, I smile and pet the little creature. Picking it up and letting it crawl over both of my hands, smiling as I see it's little nose moving as it sniffs me.  
>"You need to reach the mountain before the last days of autumn?" Beorn asks looking at Gandalf.<br>"Before Durin's Day falls, yes." Gandalf says nodding and smoking his pipe. Beorn sits down in a very intricately carved chair.  
>"You are running out of time." Beorn states<br>"Which is why we must go through Mirkwood."  
>"A darkness lies upon that forest. Fell things creep beneath those trees. There is an alliance between the Orcs of Moria and the Necromancer in Dol Guldur. I would not venture there except in great need."<br>"We will take the Elven Road. That path is still safe."  
>"Safe? The Wood-Elves of Mirkwood are not like their akin. They're less wise and more dangerous. But it matters not."<br>"What do you mean?" Thorin asks  
>"These lands are crawling with Orcs. Their numbers are growing, and you are on foot. You will never reach the forest alive." Thorin looks worried. Beorn stands and starts walking towards Thorin "I don't like dwarves. They're greedy and blind, blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than their own." Beorn picks up a mouse that had been scampering on the table and holds it, all the while approaching Thorin. who is standing with his arms crossed. "But Orcs I hate more. What do you need?"<br>"Horses, and whatever you can spare to get us to the forest" Gandalf says.  
>Beorn nods "Wait here" he says and leaves the house<p> 


	21. Not so 'Greenwood'

I leave the house quietly, without being seen, while the dwarves talk amongst themselves. I smile as I look around at Beorn's garden, it's a peaceful place, the bees are zipping around back and forth, but no less tranquil because of them. I spot Bilbo out of the corner of my eye and walk over to him.

"I see you have been able to sneak away too, Master Baggins" I say softly, smiling.  
>He chuckles a little "Aha," He nods "Yes, I wanted to look around Beorn's garden before we leave, it is... An amazing place. So peaceful..." he says sighing contented as he looks around smiling. "Huh" Hesays as he spots something and starts walking over to it, picking it up off the floor. I follow him curiously.<br>"Bilbo?" I ask before I notice him smiling at a little acorn that he's picked up. I smile at my friend as he looks at me while putting the little acorn in his pocket.  
>"I think, I'm going to plant this back in my garden at home, a memento of our journey and the friends I've made" he says softly.<p>

I can't help but smile, he finds such joy in the small things in life. Who knew such a small Hobbit could have such a big heart. I for one never would have known if I had never met Bilbo. I may have had my doubts about this journey when we first set out from the Shire but now things seem to be getting better, Thorin for one is being more pleasant, and it makes everything seem that much better.

We mount up on the horses that Beorn is letting us borrow, some of us have to share since he doesn't just happen to have sixteen horses, one for each of us. Bofur and Gloin share a pony. Fili and Kili share, and myself, I share with Thorin, at his insistance.

A bird squawks as it flies off. That's not just any bird though. I'm almost certain it's Crebain.  
>We're all waiting for Gandalf who is talking to Beorn in the woods, just out of earshot, seeing as I am further away than the others.<p>

"Gandalf. Time is wasting" Thorin says to the Wizard.

Gandalf is about to walk over to us but Beorn starts to talk again causing him to turn back to face the skinchanger. More squawking is heard "Go now. While you have the light." A howl is heard and Gandalf makes his way over to us.

"Your hunters are not far behind" Beorn says as Gandalf quickly mounts and sets his horse into a trot.

It's past midday by the time we get to what was formerly the Greenwood, now a brown and black, dead-looking forest with twisting trees and overgrown vines. I see now why they call it Mirkwood.

Gandalf dismounts and walks into the edge of the forest under an ancient elven archway.

We're all simply sitting on the horses waiting to see what Gandalf says, he knows where we're going after all. I realise I'm holding onto Thorin rather snugly, resting my head on his back, I don't know how long I have been like this, I hope not long. I've never really liked riding on the same horse behind someone, I always feel like I'm going to fall off, but this time wasn't about feeling like I am about to fall, I'm starting to think back to sixty years ago, when Thorin and myself were quite close... But that was a long time ago, another life.

"Here lies our path through Mirkwood." Gandalf says turning around to face us. I lift my head as I hear Gandalf speak and upon realising how I am holding Thorin I dismount and walk towards Gandalf feeling a little aghast that I let myself behave like that, and even more surprised that he hadn't said anything. I look past the wizard to the forest, An unpleasant feeling looms over the forest. It feels almost like I'm fighting myself, a crushing sensation weighing down on my chest and clouding my senses. It's like an uncontrollable anger caged inside and trying to get out, clawing at the walls screaming without being able to make a sound. While staring at the path through the trees it's almost as if they start to move and close in around me.  
>"No sign of the Orcs. We have luck on our side." Dwalin says before dismounting. Taking me out of my thoughts and causing me to look away from the forest, I am breathing fast and heavily, I look around thankful no one was looking at me, I hope no one had seen my reaction to the forest, I felt like I was going mad.<br>"Set the ponies loose. Let them return to their master." Gandalf says, as I look over to him I notice he was looking in the distance. I look to where he was looking and notice Beorn as a bear, no doubt protecting his ponies.

"This forest feels...sick, as if a disease lies upon it. Is there no way around?"

"I agree with Master Baggins. Do say that there is a different way we can go, one that does not involve going through the forest, there's an unpleasant aura about this place. A dark magic... We should not take this path unless we have no other choice"

"Not unless we go two hundred miles north, or twice that distance south." Gandalf says as he starts walking into the forest a little further.

"And we can't afford any more delays" I say quietly to myself. I sigh and I look around away from the forest the dwarves are taking our supplies off the ponies and unsaddling them, trotting off when they are. I feel a sickly feeling in my chest and I sit on the grass facing away from the forest, it is going to be one hell of a trip through the forest, it's already messing with my head.

"Are you alright?" Bilbo asks softly walking over to me  
>"Hmm? Oh yes, yes, I'm fine, thank you Bilbo, I'm just not best pleased that this is the path we have to take. It feels wrong..." I say honestly.<p>

Nori is just about to unsaddle Gandalf's horse when he protests

"Not my horse! I need it." As Gandalf strides forward, we all look at him shocked.  
>"Gandalf?" I say as I stand up quickly, looking at the wizard in confusion and surprise, wondering what the problem is.<p>

"You're not leaving us?" Bilbo says dismayed.

"I would not do this unless I had to." Gandalf says looking at both me and the hobbit with regret.

Something is wrong. More wrong that this forest, what could be so dire that he would have to leave us?

Gandalf looks at Thorin, then turns and looks at a dejected Bilbo.

"You've changed, Bilbo Baggins. You're not the same Hobbit as the one who left the Shire."  
>So that he can talk to the Hobbit I go and gather a few of the supplies. I catch a glance of Thorin through the corner of my eye and I look over at him as he is also collecting a few supplies to carry. He seems to notice me looking and looks over at me. I feel my face flush and I nod quickly turning away, thankfully Gandalf starts speaking.<p>

"I'll be waiting for you at the overlook, before the slopes of Erebor. Keep the map and key safe." He turns and looks at Thorin "Do not enter that mountain without me." Gandalf says as he looks hard at Thorin and then continues to his horse.

"This is not the Greenwood of old. The very air of the forest is heavy with illusion. It will seek to enter your mind and lead you astray. There is a stream in the woods that carries a dark enchantment. Do not touch the water. Cross only by the stone bridge." Gandalf says, a warning that has come a little late since I have already experienced slight illusions.

"Lead us astray? What does that mean?" Bilbo asks as Gandalf gets on his horse.

"I think it means we're going to be hallucinating" I reply to the Hobbit's question

"You must stay on the path; do not leave it. If you do, you will never find it again." Gandalf warns

Gandalf wheels his horse and rides away.

"No matter what may come, stay on the path!"

Thorin starts walking into the forest

"Come on. We must reach the mountain before the sun sets on Durin's Day." he says causing us all to follow after him.

"This is our one chance to find the hidden door."

* * *

><p>Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all, I hope you have enjoyed this chapter and I wish you all a pleasant 2015.<p> 


	22. Mirkwood

We follow Thorin through the trees following the thin paved pathway that's mostly covered in leaves, dirt and twigs "The path turns this way." he says after kicking some leaves aside to reveal the path. It gets difficult to breathe the further in we go, we're been walking for hours and there is still no sigh of the forest ending, yet we stay on the path that twists and turns. Over fallen trees and around rocks

Dwalin thumps the handle of his hammer on the ground to find the paving stones of the trail through the dirt that has covered the path that no longer seems in use  
>"This way." he says hearing the clunk of stone under metal rather than the sound of dirt.<br>We keep following the path like Gandalf said to do.

"Air. I need air." Bofur says out loud what we're all thinking.  
>"My head, it's spinning." Oin states<p>

It's harder to breathe, our heads feel heavy and dizzy, the twisting tall trees leave us in all but complete darkness only a little bit of light to see by, the canopy of the trees has made the air in the forest feel thick and every step taken feels like you have weights attached to your feet, every muscle feels ten time harder to move

"We found the bridge" Someone calls, I realise I've been walking in a daydream all this time.  
>As we get to the bridge we realise it's broken, impassable.<br>"Bridge? Once it was a bridge. Not anymore, we need to find another way to cross" I say say looking up and down the stream.  
>"We could try and swim it." Bofur suggests<br>"Didn't you hear what Gandalf said? A dark magic lies upon this forest. The waters of this stream are enchanted." Thorin says to Bofur's suggestion  
>"Doesn't look very enchanting to me." Bofur says as he looks at the bubbling black waters of the river is covered in a low lying fog and the surface on the water is covered in spores from the plants and trees.<p>

"Like Chase has said We must find another way across." Thorin says simply. I notice the vines just as Kili does  
>"These vines look strong enough." Kili points out and is about to start climbing over them<br>"Kili!" Thorin says quickly "We send the lightest first."  
>We all look to Bilbo, he doesn't look very pleased that he's being sent over first, but he is the lightest one, if he can get across we shouldn't have a problem.<br>"Be careful Bilbo" I say as he nods and starts to walk towards the vines, he doesn't have much of a choice.  
>He starts climbing the vines<br>"It's all right." he pauses as he inspects the vines "Can't see any problem." He reaches for a vine but his arm isn't long enough he nearly loses his hold and hangs above the water upside down holding on only by his legs. "There's one. Everything's...fine."  
>He manages to get back onto the vines and continue to cross, he's a smart little Hobbit.<br>After having made it across, he states: "Something is not right. This is not right at all."  
>Upon seeing it's safe enough to cross Thorin motions for everyone to follow Bilbo's path through the vines, not wanting to waste any time we all cross at once.<br>Thorin makes it safely across, I'm behind Bombur who falls asleep on one of the vines. While holding on I try to wake him up by slapping his face a little.  
>"Come on Bombur wake up" I say feeling sleepy myself.<br>"I don't believe in luck, we make our own luck" I hear Thorin say for some reason. I look over to him and then I hear a splash. I look back to Bombur who is lying on his back in the water.

We manage to get Bombur out of the water, after a lot of messing around while trying not to touch the water and we make a stretcher and roll him onto it before continuing along the path.

"We need to take a rest" one of the dwarves say, this forest is getting maddening to be in, we need to find a way out of here soon, it's dizzying.  
>"What is that? Those voices, can you hear them?" Bilbo asks<br>I hear something but I think it is just the dwarves talking amongst themselves  
>"I hear nothing" Thorin says struggling to speak because of the atmosphere of the forest.<br>"No wind, no bird song. What hour is it?" he asks slowly, each word hard to speak.  
>"I do not know, I do not even know what day it is" Dwalin responds<br>"It can't be more than the second day, we must be near the end of the forest by now, surely" I add

"This is taking too long" Thorin states "Is there no end to this accursed forest?!" he says louder than he was previously speaking.  
>"None that I can see, only trees and more trees" Gloin says looking around wide eyed<br>"There" Thorin says moving off the path "This way"  
>"Gandalf said not to leave the-" Oin starts to speak<br>"Do as I say" Thorin says desperately, making his way through the dwarves "Follow me"  
>"Bilbo" I say getting his attention, he's looking around in a daze "This way Bilbo" I say and start walking after Thorin and the rest of them.<br>"Wait! Wait" Bilbo says, I look back to him and motion with my hand for him to follow "Stop!" my head is spinning too much to be able to think properly and my ears are ringing.  
>We all help to get Bombur around a large tree on the edge of a cliff<p>

We suddenly stop and Thorin asks why we've stopped,  
>"What's happening?"Oin asks<br>"The path...it's disappeared!" Nori says  
>"What?" I ask unsure what's being said<p>

"What's going on?" Dwalin asks  
>"We've lost the path!" Oin states<br>"Find it. All of you look. Look for the path!" Thorin says desperately  
>"What?" I say again "you told us to leave it, we could just go back the way we came?" I suggest looking back the way we came, which looks completely different than I remember it being<br>"But which way is that?" Fili asks  
>"This entire place looks the same, yet unrecognisable at the same time" Kili adds.<br>"I don't remember this place . None of it's familiar." I look to Balin as he speaks, he's up on a higher level than myself and I go up to stand near him and look at all the dwarves who are looking for the path.

"...We are lost." I hear Bilbo say causing me to look around at him  
>"We're not lost. We keep heading east." Dwalin says stubbornly<br>"But which way is east? We've lost the sun." Oin states  
>The dwarves start to argue and push each other around. I sit out of the fray too dizzy to bother getting involved in dwarvish squabbles.<p>

"What? What is that?" Thorin says quietly  
>"Whispering?" I ask to which he nods slightly "You hear it too?" I ask standing back up<p>

Thorin turns and yells at the dwarves. "Enough! Quiet! All of you!" He says getting their attention "We're being watched." he says quieter.  
>I feel my eyes getting heavier and I have to sit down again, I lean against a tree looking around a little and notice Bilbo is gone and everyone else in a group, I blink and when I take another look around I notice everyone else was gone, did I dose off and get left here I stand up only to fall over. I roll onto my back and notice my legs up to my knee are tied up, I pull at the white rope to find that it's sticky, and that it's not actually rope. It webbing. I go to get my dagger when I hear scuttling and get stabbed in the back falling limp. My vision fades to black as I feel myself being picked up and spun around.<p> 


	23. Like Flies in a Web

I hear the company struggling as I regain my consciousness, only to realise I'm wrapped tightly in webs upside down I see a spider through the webs, right in front of me, I wriggle and kick the spider causing me to start swinging, I fiddle around for a dagger and slice the webs open. I didn't realise we were so far off the ground and I have to grab hold of the web to prevent falling to the forest floor, I wince at the pain it causes my shoulder, gasping at the shock of the sudden pulse it sent through my muscles. I hear the spider I kicked hiss and I have to turn quickly, as I turn I see the spider stopped dead in front of me with a sword through the side of it's head. I follow the sword and see Bilbo. I'm surprised by the Hobbit and my face no doubt reflects my surprise. I can still feel the spiders toxin in my veins, I feel fairly numb and it is a little bit hard to focus my vision which is slightly blurred. The spider falls as Bilbo pulls his sword out of it, the spider falls through a web net which pulls the former cocoon that I am clinging onto pulling it off the branches it's attached which in turn pulls me down to the floor.

It lowers me a little bumpy as the webs snap off the trees, but letting me land on my feet and I see other cocoons falling through the canopy of webs as Bilbo cuts the company down. I cut open the closest cocoon which has Dwalin inside, I help him up and he automatically starts helping the others, I cut Bofur free and the first thing he does is ask about the Hobbit.  
>"Where's Bilbo?"<p>

"Bilbo!" a few of the others start to worry about him and before I can reassure them that Bilbo is alright  
>"I'm up here!" The Hobbit calls down to us before I hear him yell a little. I look up quickly and sheath my dagger before climbing the nearest tree, ignoring my shoulder as much as possible, jumping a little as I climb with haste to get back up to him. I get back up to where he was and look around from him, I don't see him but I do hear and see spiders converging on us from all sides.<p>

"I hate spiders..." I mutter to myself as I draw my bow, nocking an arrow. My arm is shaking because of my wounded shoulder, Kili has been helping me practice my archery when we've been camping, I'm not bad, but I'm not as accurate as I used to be. I have to focus sharply making sure my arrow is lined up on the blurry target, I'm thankful I'm not seeing double. I shake my head with an annoyed groan before letting my arrow fly, managing to get a hit on the foul creature, it's not enough to kill it but it causes it to loose it's grip on the tree and fall to it's death. I jump to different trees so that I keep up with the company who are running below. To my surprise another spider comes at me from my side just as I jump to a tree startling me, I back up stepping on a brittle branch which snaps. I flail my arms a little as I start falling backwards, I turn around and jump, grasping for a branch as a last resort to stop myself from falling. Unable to get a proper grip on the wood I reach for a vine that's hanging off the tree, while falling I wrap the thin rope-like plant around my leg so I slide down to the ground without risking injury. I have to jump because of a spider below climbing the tree trunk towards me. I quickly grab my dagger and stab the spider in the back as I continue to fall, slicing the slightly hairy hide of the arachnid. I jump away from the spider as it falls and I land on my feet on the floor.

I look to my right as I hear hissing, just to see a spider get it's legs torn off by the dwarves pulling each of it's legs, causing it to land on Bombur. The dismembered body of the arachnid gets pushed off Bombur and he's helped to his feet.

We fight off a few more of the creatures as we continue to run, When not fighting I'm looking around for Bilbo. I see him through one of the gaps in the trees, looking a little panicked and what looks like a small spider dead in front of him. I'm about to run towards him when a spider lands in front of us causing me to look to it instead standing defensively as it hisses at us. I see movement above, there are more spiders descending and then I see a figure running on a large branch before swinging down a spider's silk landing on the spider as it lands on the ground, killing it causing it to slide down a small rise in the land, the elf slides down ontop of the corpse before jumping off and sliding on the forest floor underneath the spider that was advancing towards us, gutting the fell beast as he slides. In one smooth motion he sheathes his dagger and draws his bow as he slides to a stop in front of Thorin, kneeling with an arrow nocked and pointed directly at the dwarf prince. I recognise this elf to be Legolas, son of King Thranduil.  
>"Do not think I won't kill you, dwarf. It would be my pleasure." the elf prince says to Thorin<p>

I look around and see that we're completely surrounded and outnumbered by Mirkwood Elves, all with their bows drawn and aimed at us. This could get bad...

"Hir Nin Legolas"

_My Lord Legolas._ I say stepping out of the group, a few of the archers train their bows on me.

To show I mean him no harm I sheath my weapons and hold my hands out slightly. He looks at me quizzically, probably wondering why a dwarf is speaking elvish.  
>"I eneth nîn Seis, Ídhron peded adh dhen."<br>_My name is Chase. I wish to speak with you_

A shout halts our talking and we all turn realising it's Kili.  
>"Help!"<br>"Kili!" Fili shouts worried for his brother, he starts to head for him but the sound of more arrows being pointed at him prevents him from moving any further.

"My lord! Please! If you will not let us help him, send someone I beg you!"  
>he nods his head at one of the elves, I look to the elf he had nodded at, a red-headed female elf, she runs swiftly to the source of the cry for help, and not long after both Kili and the female dwarf emerge from the dense trees.<p>

"Thank you," I say gratefully, overjoyed that the young dwarf is unharmed

"Search them" Legolas orders as he turns around to the female elf.

An elf takes Orchrist off Thorin and Walks over to Legolas, handing it to him

"Echannen i vegil hen vin Gondolin. Magannen nan Gelydh." He says inspecting the sword  
><em>This is an ancient Elvish blade. Forged by my kin.<em>

"Where did you get this?"

"It was given to me." Thorin replies simply

The elf prince points the sword at the Dwarf

"Not just a thief, but a liar as well."

"Le dŷr, hîr Elrond od Imladris den aun anden."  
><em>You're mistaken it was given to him by Lord Elrond of Rivendell <em>I state respectfully.  
>He looks at me unsure what to make of my response before telling his people to take us away.<p>

The elves begin to lead us away. Bofur turns and whispers to Thorin

"Thorin, where's Bilbo?"

Thorin looks around, but sees no sign of Bilbo.  
>I notice the worry on his face and knowing I had seen him, I whisper to Thorin that he is alright<p>

We're are led over a bridge and into King Thranduil's kingdom. Led single file over raised wooden walkways of the Woodland Realm. The entire place is built out of large, ages old tree roots in a subterranean cavern. Thorin is taken out of the group and lead towards the King as we are lead down steps and then pushed, protesting, into several cells.

All the dwarves have individually been taken to see the king, Balin was the last to go, it's not long before he is escorted back to the cells and I am taken out of my cell, confused I look towards Thorin who is simply standing at the closed cell gate looking at me as I am led up the stairs and along the pathway towards the King. Being respectful I greet him with a slight bow, ignoring the pain in my shoulder.

"Ai Thranduil, aran en-Eryn"  
><em>Hail Thranduil, King of the Forest.<em> I say as I stand up straight

"Thorin avast dambeded, i phin eithyr avasser eithro, ach nauthon i ech, per-edhel, peditha ammen: i theled gîn vi Eryn Lasgalen."  
><em>Thorin would not give me a proper answer, neither would any of the others, presumably you, being half elf, would be more forthcoming about what it is you are doing here in Mirkwood?<em> He gets straight to the point of why I have been summoned.

"Trevedim trî in eryn, ach vistassem uin râd, adh ith ling telir. Sa narn bant, Hîr nin"  
><em>We are simply travelling through the forest, but we strayed from the path and then we were attacked by spiders, that is all there is to it my lord<em>. I say careful of what I am saying. It's not a lie and it's not the full truth, surely this will be enough to satisfy his curiosity?

"Nauthagir i he drevaded arod. Trevaded an orthoged mâr adh an ndaged amlug. Im nautha innas ilaurui: Pilu nemmen egor nad sui han. Ichíregir fen. Cethigir ha i anthatha vâl aran an Thorin: i vîr aran, i Arkenstone. Te muin atha ngonoded. Ha chenion. Min orod vîr in eithro ídhron. Silif calad gîl."

_Some may imagine that a noble quest is at hand. (You think that this is a noble journey.) A quest to reclaim a homeland and slay a dragon. I myself suspect a more prosaic motive: attempted burglary, or something of that ilk. You have found a way in. You seek that which would bestow upon Thorin the right to rule: the King's Jewel, the Arkenstone. It is precious to him beyond measure. I understand that. There are gems in the mountain that I too desire. White gems of pure starlight._ I know of which gems he speaks, if my memory serves me correctly my father used to say he wished for them to be made into jewellery for his wife, since the elves didn't smith he

"I silif Eryn Lasgalen?"  
><em>The white gems of Lasgalen?<em>

"Ma."  
><em>The same<em>. He says seemingly surprised that I know.  
>"Gi leithiathon, pi pedig an Thorin Danantho i silif an Thranduil."<br>_I will let you go, if you but convince Thorin to return what is mine._ I think for a short moment and turn to look towards the cells, before turning back to him, he looks like he is expecting a positive answer.

"Pedin? Ebenthidh anden ach est avas? Ú-belin prestad i 'ûr dîn, i phith dhîn ú-athevennin. Ú-iston pi pelin prestad i innas dîn."

_Convince? You mean you have already offered him these terms but he has refused? I do not know how I am supposed to be able to change his mind, terms like those are not turned down on a whim. I do not know if I can change his mind._ I say knowing how stubborn that dwarf can be, and to even suggest this to him... He sees me as more of an elf than a dwarf, but he has only recently gotten over that fact, if I try and convince him... All that trust that I have toiled for may just light up in flames.

"Dem. Sa i vên gîn ed i thaim nîn. Trî lû van cuia peredhel adh drî lû van cuia nawag… Host în? Lephost în? Egor uir? Uir lû and am bostad erui vi mand. Nautho o san."

_A pity. That is the only way you are going to be leaving these halls. How long does a half elf live compared to a dwarf. One hundred years? Five hundred years? Or indefinitely? Eternity is a long time to spend in a cell all alone. Think on it._

He motions to his guards to take me away  
>Once back at the cell and the guards have left Thorin asks me what Thranduil wanted with me.<br>"He asked me what we were doing here in Mirkwood" I reply  
>"And what did you tell him?"<br>"I told him we were simply passing through"  
>"Is that all he wanted from you?"<br>I won't lie to him "He said he won't let us go unless you accept his offer, told me that is the only way we are going to get out of here, or we can sit here until we die of old age... A deal is our only hope" I say sitting down on the floor in the back of the cell.  
>"Not our only hope" Thorin states<br>I have to think for a moment then remember Bilbo wasn't captured.

* * *

><p>I hope this chapter isn't confusing.<p>

The elvish translations are underneath, in italics.

Most of the elvish was kindly translated from English into Elvish for me by DreaminFifi of realelvish . net


	24. Jail Break

King Thranduil called for me again, and was most displeased with my answer when I told him that I couldn't convince Thorin. Not that I tried very hard to convince him, I don't want one of those 'trying and failing to convince a stubborn dwarf' headaches. I'm being lead back to the cells by two guards when suddenly there is a klunk from the one behind me. Both myself and the other guard turn to see him fall and without thinking I turn and reach for the standing guards weapon, but he dodges to the side and behind me in a spinning motion. Bloody elves love their prancing. I turn quickly and hear a loud klunk and then him fall next to the first elf. As he falls I see Bilbo standing behind him holding a rock. "Bilbo!" I say in a relieved whisper and hug him. "How did you get in here? Wait. Never mind, how are we going to get out of here without being seen?" I ask hoping he has an idea.  
>"Don't worry I've got a plan. I've got the keys, we're going to get the others then make for the cellars" he replies in a whisper.<br>"The cellar?" I ask confused  
>"Please, just trust me..." He says sounding a little hurt.<br>"I trust you Bilbo." I say, resulting in him smiling. After a moment Bilbo clears his throat.  
>"Where are Thorin and the others?"<br>"They're down in the cells" I say nodding the way the guards were taking me.  
>"Right, let's go" he says and hurries down the path and down the stairs.<br>I wander off to the side realising the guards-room is close. It's surprisingly empty, must be because of the feast, I assume. I open the confiscated belongings box closest to me not everyone's items are inside, but I grab what's there. Oin's hearing trumpet, Ori's slingshot, Gloin's photoframe Items that they think could contain lockpicks I guess, and my weapons which are all filling the one container. I quietly close the chest and look around for any other belongings. I have to quickly hide as I see a guard walking around the table in the centre of the room, who before now was hidden behind a decorative dividing wall. I hear him pull out a chair and start speaking to another of the guards who must already be seated. I look through one of the small gaps in the design and see that they are both now sitting down and drinking. I curse under my breath and make my way to the door, quickly and quietly. I almost run into Bilbo who seems to have followed me.  
>"What are you doing?" He asks a little frantically. Not forgetting to keep quiet. He notices a few of the items I am holding and then looks at me and sighs. I look at him apologetically. We hear some guards passing close by so we quickly head towards the cells.<p>

"I'll wager the sun's on the rise. It must be nearly dawn." I hear Bofur say as we get closer. I keep a look out as Bilbo goes over to the cells  
>"We're never going to reach the mountain, are we?" Ori says sounding heartbroken<br>"Not stuck in here, you're not!"  
>Thorin and the other dwarves jump up in surprise and rush over to the cell gates.<br>"Bilbo!" Balin's exclaims happy to see the Hobbit.  
>All the dwarves sound happy to see him.<br>"Shhh! There are guards nearby!" Bilbo states to all the noisy dwarves.  
>Bilbo unlocks Thorin's cell and lets him out. He then proceeds to let all the dwarves out of their cells. I move over to the dwarves Oin his hearing trumpet that I managed to reclaim but because of the crowd I can't return Gloin's photoframe or Ori's slingshot so I put them in my inside pocket for safekeeping. I head towards the way down to the cellar and look back to see the dwarves heading up the stairs where we were brought in .<br>"Not that way, down here. Follow me." Bilbo says walking past me and down the stairs. I wait for a few of the dwarves to pass before following Bilbo. Who proceeds to lead us down, further into the woodland realm until we're in the cellars  
>There are elves sleeping with their heads on a table, with several empty bottles of wine in front of them.<br>From here I don't know what Bilbo's plan is so I feels as uneasy about this as the rest of the dwarves look.  
>"This way." Bilbo says as he heads further in. "Come on" he motions with his hand<br>"I don't believe it; we're in the cellars!" Kili states  
>"You were supposed to be leading us out, not further in!" Bofur says, all the dwarves sound displeased at the revelation of being in the deepest part of the Woodland realm.<br>"I know what I'm doing!" Bilbo says confidently  
>"Shhh!" Bofur says motioning with his finger to his mouth to be quiet.<br>We start walking past some barrels in the middle of the room and a large wine rack the other side  
>"Everyone, climb into the barrels, quickly!" Bilbo says before we pass said barrels. I've alredy past the barrels so I have to walk back a little, I look at them unsure.<br>"Are you mad?! They'll find us!" Dwalin says practically storming over to Bilbo  
>I look at Bilbo uneasy, I don't see how we're going to get out this way.<br>"No, no, they won't, I promise you. Please, please, you MUST trust me!" Bilbo pleads.  
>"Well I trust him." I state, and climb into a barrel that's stacked on top of another He's confident we won't be found this way so... I look at the others and wait for them to make their minds up. Bilbo looks at Thorin hoping he will trust him enough.<br>"Do as he says!" Thorin says and everyone starts to get into the barrels.

The dwarves start climbing into barrels, some helping others. Once we're all in Bilbo walks along, counting, I guess he's making sure everyone is here. There's a couple of empty barrels,  
>"What do we do now?" Bofur asks popping his head out, causing everyone else to pop their heads out.<br>"Hold your breath." Bilbo looks at everyone then pulls a leaver  
>"Hold my breath? What do you mea-" Bofur doesn't get to finish because the floor tilts causing us all to forcefully lean against the inside of the barrels.<p>

We all yell as we start rolling, ones stacked ontop of others, like myself, hit the floor causing us to get shaken about before falling for a moment before getting soaked as we splash into a river. Some of us getting bounced around a lot as other barrels collide with ours, before everyone is upright in their barrels. Thorin is holding onto Dwalin and Bifur's barrels who are holding onto the walls making sure the barrels don't float away as we look around to make sure everyone is alright. But I don't notice Bilbo.  
>I look up to where we fell from as the trapdoor closes, Bilbo hasn't gotten out yet.<br>"Come on Bilbo" I say looking up at the gap.

A few moments pass and we hear thumping on the trapdoor before it opens and Bilbo comes sliding out on his feet, landing in the water on his back. He looked almost like a log for a moment he tensed that much. He surfaces and grabs onto my barrel and I hold onto him, relieved that he's alright and so that he doesn't slip off.

"Well done, Master Baggins." Thorin says smiling at Bilbo's brilliance.  
>Bilbo, half drowned, waves his hand in thanks and manages to splutter "Go"<br>"Go, come on, let's go." Thorin says as he turns around in his barrel and starts to use his arms to speed up.  
>I use one had to hold Bilbo onto the barrel and the other to paddle with the current of the river<br>"Hold on!" Thorin suddenly yells and I look ahead to see daylight and the dwarves in front start to drop. I hold Bilbo with Two hands to *make sure he doesn't fall off as we fall then get submerged for a second under a small waterfall. Bilbo has fallen off a little and is holding onto the rope on the side of the barrel so I help him pull himself up.

We bump into each other and the rocks at the side and in the midst of the rapids.  
>We hear a horn blow and I look back to see Legolas before hearing voices of other elves in front causing me to look and see a small gatehouse. I'll hand it to them they have thought of everything, these elves... One of the elves pull a leaver and a gate closes stopping the barrels and us from going any further down stream.<br>"No!" Thorin exclaims in annoyance, we were free for a moment. The barrels bump into each other and the elven guards draw their swords as we flow towards the pile up. "If you get a chance, escape" I say quietly to Bilbo.  
>I look at the guards and one is suddenly shot in the back with a black arrow falling into the waterbetween a couple of the barrels as several growling orcs swarm over the gatehouse, killing the expecting elves. More orcs rush in from all sides, with their leader, a vile pale orc with armour that's embedded in his flesh and bolted to him. Bolg spawn of Azog. I have heard of this creature and know him by reputation only.<br>"Someone get onto the bridge" Thorin says. Orcs are throwing themselves at us and killing the elves that seem to have appeared from no where.  
>An orc jumps at me and I am able to hold it back by the throat and holding it's arm that has a dagger, slowly moving it closer as my bad shoulder is straining against the weight and strength of the orc. Bilbo stabs the orc in the throat, thankfully no where near my hand. I drop the orc to the side, into the water before clutching my shoulder in pain as I feel someone jump onto my barrel then onto shore. As I look I notice it's Kili who ducks to avoid an orc's swing.<br>"Kili!" Dwalin shouts and throws him a sword he had managed to get off an orc.  
>Kili kicks the now dead orc that he was fighting into the water and runs up the steps to the lever, fighting his way there. I grab one of my daggers that I had managed to salvage and stab an orc that was attacking Ori, who was punching the vile creature.<br>"Kili!" Fili shouts worried about his brother, I look up to the young dwarf who is lying on the floor with an arrow in his leg.  
>I have to pull Bilbo back onto the barrel quickly before jumping out of it. An orc that was right in front of me as I jumped onto the stone gets shot through the head and I look to see Legolas appear shooting Orcs and then I notice the female captain of the guard, who I recall he called Tauriel. An orc jumps out of the bush and I end up on my back, stabbing the creature in the gut and pushing it off me as I make my way to Kili. Kili manages to get the leaver and open it while I fight off an orc that was making it's way to the young dwarf. I cut it's throat and look back to Kili who nods before sliding into an empty barrel. I quickly kill another orc before jumping into another empty barrel. I look for Bilbo who is holding onto Nori's cask.<br>We go down several small waterfalls, all the while the orcs shooting their arrows and throwing their spears at us until we're nearer the side where they can try and swipe at us. A few of us have weapons stolen from orcs that we have managed to kill. As the raging river gets narrower it's easier for the orcs to try and kill us. The barrel I am in bumps into a rock in the middle off the torrents slitting the seam of the wood and leaking water in. I curse and look around and I notice a fallen tree is over the river connecting both sides like a bridge, an orc runs on it and jumps at the closes dwarf to him. Balin, helpless can do nothing but look at the orc as it is heading straight for him.  
>"Balin!" Thorin calls before throwing a spear at the jumping orc, impaling him on the tree. Catching the weapon that the orc drops, as he passes underneath. He throws it to Dwalin who throws it to another dwarf. I look to my side as I see something move and quickly manage to dodge to the side of a thrown axe which embeds in the cask. I pull the axe out of the wood and throw it back, with my good arm, embedding it in it's skull, it falls into the water next to my barrel and I reclaim the axe.<br>"Cut the log" I hear Thorin say and I turn around in my barrel, noticing a few dwarves chopping another over hanging tree. It breaks right in front of me and an orc grabs onto my cask. Holding my arm away and going to stab me with a dagger, grinning evilly. It screeches about to plunge the dagger into my chest but the back of it's neck is cut deeply by Bombur as he passes in his barrel, severing the orc's spine.  
>Bombur then gets jumped on by an orc, embedding a spear into the barrel but the current separates us before I can assist him. The spear gets stuck on a branch and Bombur and barrel are catapulted onto shore, rolling over orcs that are in his way as he bounces around uncontrollably. The barrel rolls over another fallen tree to the other side of the river, where he rolls even more before bouncing over to the opposite side of the river again with the help of part of another fallen tree.<p>

Eventually, the barrel comes to a stop, and orcs surround it, the bottom of the cask is kicked free and Bombur sticks his arms out of the ruined sides, holding axes. He jumps to his feet, spinning and killing or injuring any orc nearby. He quickly finishes his foes and jumps into one of the other empty barrels, throwing the weapons to two of the dwarves. Who then have to help his cask upright so the barrel doesn't fill with water and he drowns.  
>The elves have caught up to us and are making our job easier by shooting the orcs before most of them can even get to us. Legolas, leaps gracefully with his feet on the heads of two dwarves, an unhappy Dwalin and Nori as he shoots orcs on both riverbanks. He steps off one of them as a rock protrudes through the river, on one foot, his balance perfect, he aims carefully, and manages to skewer two orcs through the head with one arrow. Despite the circumstances of death by drowning, by orcs or imprisonment, I have to have a little chuckle at that. Legolas continues shooting orcs and jumps to the riverbank and starts to fight them. He kills an orc in front of him and slides down a small incline and continues to fight. Then he crosses to the other side of the river using the heads of floating dwarves as stepping stones. I realise that my barrel is almost full of water and it catches on a rock underneath the water, causing it to hit another rock to the side splitting the stressed ropes and cask apart. I am dragged under the water by the current and pulled along, the murky water is hard to see through and from what I can see there are a lot of jagged rocks. I get thrown into a rock before before the current allows me to get back to the surface. I cough up water and gasp for breath as I quickly look around in pain. I notice an empty barrel not too far away and try my hardest to swim to it. Once I get to the barrel I look around and notice the orcs are quite far behind us and the elves have stopped chasing us. I lean against the cask still coughing up water.<br>"Is everyone alright?" I hear someone shout. We all look around to make sure everyone is accounted for.  
>I hug my barrel and straddle it to make sure I don't fall off, surely these rapids can't go on forever?<p>

.::.

Sorry it took so long to update, I've been rather distracted lately, but to make up for it it's a pretty long chapter. I've been up all night (GMT London) so that I could update. I hope you like it, sorry for any errors. Please review?


	25. Lake Town

The river has calmed down, and the dwarves paddle along in their barrels with their hands. I climbed out of the river and Bilbo with me so that we didn't have to swim and we're just following on the rocky riverbank. Having to climb up and over rocks every now and then  
>"Anything behind us?" Thorin asks<br>"Not that I can see." Balin replies looking behind  
>"I think we've outrun the orcs." Bofur says after looking around and spitting water<br>"Not for long; we've lost the current. Is everybody alright?" Thorin asks  
>"Bombur's half drowned." Dwalin states<br>"I can't see Chase." Balin says looking around at everyone and a few empty barrels  
>"Or Bilbo" Bofur adds<br>"Chase? Bilbo?" Thorin calls as do a few other dwarves.  
>"It's alright, we're alright" I say helping the Hobbit over a particularly large rock that we were unable to move around.<br>"We're here" Bilbo says as he appears from behind the rock as I push him up and over it before climbing it, Bilbo offers his hand and helps me to the top.  
>"Make for the shore! Come on, let's go!" Thorin says and they all start making their way to the rocks. Bilbo and I help some of the dwarves out of the river.<br>"After that experience I can honestly say I would rather climb rocks than swim or be inside another barrel ever again. Although I will admit, without the orcs and almost drowning it was quite an entertaining turn of events" I say with a slight chuckle.

I look around to make sure everyone is accounted for, last time we had to run from something we had almost lost Bilbo, thankfully everyone is here. But as I look around I notice Kili fall to his knee in pain and pull out an arrowhead. Bofur is looking at him concerned.  
>"Kili?" I say as I move over to him worried and kneel down next to him.<br>"I'm fine, it's nothing." He says dismissively, not wanting to feel like a burden  
>"I know, but let us help" I say reassuringly. He reluctantly nods, but knows it's better to get his leg bound than bleed out.<br>Fili comes over quickly to check on his brother.

"On your feet." Thorin says as he walks around, looking for any sign of trouble.  
>I grab one of my daggers that I had recovered and cut part of my mid thigh length tunic and then tear it, it will have to do to bind his leg for now. Fili takes the torn fabric and starts to bind his brothers leg<p>

"Kili's wounded. His leg needs binding." Fili says to his uncle.

"There's an orc pack on our tail; we keep moving." Thorin states, as if we all need reminded.  
>"To where?" Balin asks<br>"To the mountain; we're so close." Bilbo says  
>"A lake lies between us and that mountain. We have no way to cross it." Balin states<br>"So then we go around." Bilbo suggests  
>"The orcs will run us down, as sure as daylight. We have few weapons to defend ourselves" Dwalin says since Bilbo and I are the only ones with any weapons.<p>

"Bind his leg, quickly. You have two minutes." Thorin says as he tries to think of what we can do.

I pat Kili on the shoulder and walk over to Thorin.  
>"Thorin, perhaps we could seek help from Lake Town?" I suggest "It's closer than the mountain and we may be able to buy some weapons, maybe get a boat to cross the lake?"<br>Bilbo comes over to the both of us "Lake Town?" he says interested to know more.  
>"A small town built out in the lake, it's as good a place as we are going to find around here to get supplies from. It's a human settlement. Mostly fishermen no more than a few hundred people, they're a friendly populace"<p>

My thoughts return to the last time I was in LakeTown. My mother and father were still alive, selling some of their trinkets and jewellery for money and supplies. I wonder if they have been sold of melted down after so many years.

I notice a tall dark figure out of the corner of my eye and turn to look, it's a man and he's looking at Ori, he's holding a bow with a semi-drawn arrow. Dwalin jumps between the man and the young dwarf, holding a stick causing the bowman to react and shoot the stick, I reach for my bow as he shoots a rock out of Kili's hand, I quickly draw an arrow, with little pain caused by my shoulder, and shoot at him but he moves out of the way quickly and points the bow with a nocked arrow at me.

"Do it again, and you're dead." He warns. I slowly move my hand away from my quiver, reluctantly, and put my bow down, he points the arrow at the others warningly. Balin starts to approach him slowly with his hands held in the air as this man fixates his his bow on him.  
>"Excuse me, but, uh, you're from Lake Town, if I'm not mistaken? That barge over there, it wouldn't be available for hire, by any chance?" he asks.<br>"Maybe not so friendly..." I say to myself as I glare at the bowman in annoyance.

The man lowers his bow and looks back to his barge. He puts his arrow back in his quiver and replaces his bow on his back. He moves over to the nearest barrel and rolls it to the platform that his vessel is docked at.

"What makes you think I will help you?" The lakeman asks as we all walk towards him and his barge.

"Those boots have seen better days." Balin states noticing the poor condition of his shoes. This man begins loading the empty casks onto the barge as Balin continues to speak.  
>"As has that coat. No doubt you have some hungry mouths to feed. How many bairns?" Balin asks smiling.<p>

"A boy and two girls." The man replies casually.

"And your wife, I'd imagine she's a beauty."

"Aye." He pauses and just looks over the lake "She was." he looks back to Balin, a hint of sadness in his eyes that he seems to be trying to hide. At that I feel my annoyance at the man fade as I wonder what happened to his wife, strangers? Maybe that is why he is seemingly so hostile.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Balin starts to apologise profusely.  
>He is interrupted by Dwalin whispering loudly to Thorin.<br>"Oh, come on, come on, enough with the niceties." Dwalin says impatiently.

"What's your hurry?" The bargeman asks

"What's it to you?" The impatient dwarf asks in reply.

"I would like to know who you are and what you are doing in these lands."

"We are simple merchants from the Blue Mountains journeying to see our kin in the Iron Hills." Balin replies

"Simple merchants, you say? One of you armed like she is expecting to go into a battle, a hobbit who carries an elvish dagger and the rest of you who have no weapons or cargo. Which leads me to wonder why two of you have weapons and the rest of you have nothing" the man says unconvinced looking at all of us in turn and then at the state of the barrels.  
>"We need food, supplies, weapons. Can you help us?" Thorin asks walking forward.<p>

The man examines the various nicks in the wood from arrows that the casks had received during the fight with the orcs.

"I know where these barrels came from." he states

"What of it?" Thorin asks.

"I don't know what business you had with the elves, but I don't think it ended well."  
>"And dwarves and elves usually get along so well in any case?" I ask sarcastically.<br>He gives me a look and tilts his head a little as he nods.  
>"You have a point. Nevertheless, no one enters Laketown but by leave of the Master. All his wealth comes from trade with the Woodland Realm. He will see you in irons before risking the wrath of King Thranduil."<p>

Bard boards his barge and tosses a rope to Balin.

"Offer him more." I look at Thorin who speaks quietly to Balin as the man looks at him.

"I'll wager there are ways to enter that town unseen."

"Aye. But for that, you will need a smuggler." he says as he

"For which we will pay double."  
>I have a small coin pouch in one of my pockets and pull it out "We can also pay up front" I say and throw it to the man who catches it with ease. He squeezes the pouch, checking the contents as he looks at Balin suspiciously. After a short moment of thinking he looks at Thorin.<br>"I will help you..." He says nodding.  
>Thorin and the dwarves start to board the barge and stand at the bow as the bargeman pushes away from the small stone dock.<p>

Out on the open lake it is very foggy, and the air is still and cold. The barge pushes aside small ice floes as the bargeman paddles over the lake.  
>I'm just sitting on the floor of the barge leaning against the side and I realise I have Ori's slingshot and Gloin's photoframe in my pocket, I've been too busy daydreaming while sitting here that I hadn't realised I could feel them. I stand up and return the items. Gloin is very appreciative that I have recovered his family sketches, and thankful that the images aren't damaged from the water. Surprisingly no water got into my inside pocket.<p>

I decide to go and talk to the Bargeman, I do not want to keep calling him 'bargeman' or 'man'. I stand near him and ask his name.  
>He looks at me unsure before replying "Bard"<br>"Bard, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm Chase" I say politely. "Tell me a little bit about yourself?" I ask  
>"I do not make a habit of talking about myself to dwarves I have only just met, or anyone for that matter." he replies looking ahead.<br>"What harm will it do, really? And I'm half elf, and you haven't only just met me, we met a good ten minutes, at least, ago"  
>"Yes, and if I remember rightly you tried to shoot me"<br>"Well you were threatening my companions, so call us even" I say smiling a little and giving him a look, he smiles a little and nods.  
>"very well, what would you like to know?"<br>"Your children, what are their names?" I ask being careful of the subjects I pick.  
>"My son, Bain, the eldest. My middle daughter Sigrid, and my youngest daughter, Tilda"<br>"You're a bargeman, have you always been such?"  
>"I used to be captain of a company of town archers, until the Master and I had a disagreement, we have not been on very good terms since" he says<br>"So if you were caught doing this then it may cause more trouble for you... Thank you... For helping us"  
>"Hold on" he says simply before suddenly turning, I hold on quickly so I don't fall overboard. "Watch out!" I look ahead and see large stone formations appear out of the fog.<br>Bard expertly manoeuvres the barge between the rock formations, which look like ancient ruins.

"What are you trying to do, drown us?" Thorin asks in his usual grumpy manner towards strangers.  
>"I was born and bred on these waters, Master Dwarf. If I wanted to drown you, I would not do it here." Bard replies.<p>

I look towards the front of the barge and see a bit of light through the fog off to my left, I look and see the silhouette of The Lonely Mountain. As I see it I feel as though a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Sixty years dreaming of home, of nightmares after the dragon attacked, and to finally see it again, words cannot describe how I am feeling. The relief is almost like being in a daze, that's the only way I can explain it. I quickly compose myself and walk over to the company, next to Bilbo, still looking at the mountain.  
>"Chase? Are you alright?" Bilbo asks. I look at him unsure why he's asking until I feel the cold of the fog on my face and a tear running down my cheek. I wipe it away quickly and nod and smile at Bilbo.<p>

I hear Bard move off the rudder and jump down off the steering platform and walk over to us.  
>"The money, quick" Bard says. I look at the water as we float along.<p>

"We'll pay you when we get our provisions, but not before." Thorin states  
>"If you value your freedom, you'll do as I say. There are guards ahead." Bard says gaining mine and Bilbo's attention.<br>We all turn and look ahead where we can just make out LakeTown through the fog and a guard dock just out from the town.  
>Balin hands the money to Bard "Quick, into the barrels"<br>"What?" I ask suddenly  
>"Just get into the barrels, quickly, we do not have time" He says urgently. I was hoping I would never have to get inside a barrel ever again, to be honest.<br>Thorin gives Bard an unfriendly look before everyone starts climbing into the barrels. I grumble and quickly climb in as Bard head's back to the rudder. "Keep your heads down and stay quiet."

The barge is stopped at the dock and Bard hops off and speaks to a man. Meanwhile, we are all waiting uncomfortably, quietly in the barrels. Dwalin, getting impatient, asks what Bard is doing.  
>"He's talking to someone." Bilbo replies "And he's...pointing right at us! Now they're shaking hands."<p>

"What?" Thorin says in disbelief.  
>"The villain! He's selling us out." Dwallin accuses.<br>"Let's not jump to conclusions. This could be how he usually greets the dock workers?" I suggest.  
>I then hear metal, like chains, maybe? And footsteps. The sound is getting closer. Suddenly fish start pouring into the barrel, the smell of raw fish filling my nostrils. I put my head down and create a little air pocket for myself to breath. It feels like forever goes by I've been trying not to concentrate on the smell of fish and the slimy scales surrounding me but I'm brought to my senses when I hear raised voices Bard sounds like he's in a bit of bother with someone.<p>

"Empty the barrels over the side." at that I start to worry a little, this could go very badly for us and Bard very quickly.  
>"You heard him. Into the canal. Come on, get a move on." a male voice orders.<br>The barrel I am in moves and is tipped to the side slightly and the fish start falling out, into the water.  
>"Folk in this town are struggling. Times are hard. Food is scarce." Bard says.<p>

"That's not my problem." Comes another voice.  
>"And when the people hear the Master is dumping fish back in the lake, when the rioting starts, will it be your problem then?"<br>"Stop."  
>I sigh quietly, relieved as the barrels get stood upright and we're not at risk of being disovered.<p>

"Ever the people's champion, eh, Bard? Protector of the common folk? You might have their favour now, bargeman, but it won't last." I am really starting to hate the person this voice belongs to. He sounds so self rightious.

"Raise the gate!"

"The Master has his eye on you; you'd do well to remember. We know where you live." The voice says after a short silence.  
>"It's a small town, Alfrid; everyone knows where everyone lives." Alfrid? I hope I never have to hear this man speak again.<p>

I hear a barrel fall over and a dwarf sputtering as the fish fall all over the place. Another barrell falls and then Dwalin, being ever so polite bursts out of the barrel "Get your hands off me." I hear him say to the bargeman. I start to climb out fo the barrel at the same time as everyone else. "I think I officially hate fish..." I say more to myself as I try to figure out a way of getting out of the barrel while maintaining what little dignity I have left after all this. I think my little predicament was noticed because Thorin comes over and helps me out of the barrel. He carefully lifts me up,causing me to have to put my hands on his shoulders. My foot clips the ring of the cask as he gently puts me down on the barge. He keeps his hands on my waist and we stare at each other for a moment before I stutter out a thank you and he lets me go, nodding, I look away unsure what to make of what just happened. Neither of us looking at each other in the eye, and not saying anything.

I notice Bard talking to a dock worker. "You didn't see them, they were never here. The fish you can have for nothing."

Bard starts to walk down the canal side path "Stay close" he says and we all start to follow, I am actually quite thankful since it cuts through the awkwardness. He peers around the corner which has a lot of people, this looks like it should be a market, but there are not many stalls open or people here, times must really be hard here.  
>"Follow me." Bard says and walks straight through the crowd<p>

"What is this place?" Bilbo asks looking quite dauned by the sight.  
>"This Master Baggins, is the world of men" Thorin says as he passes Bilbo and follows Bard.<br>"Keep your heads down, keep moving. Quickly now" Bard says directing us towards a building. Avoiding guards.  
>"Halt!" A guard shouts causing everyone to look at him then to us. "Oi!"<br>"Come on, Move!" Thorin says, the dwarves start following Thorin. Bilbo standing there looking at the guard.  
>"In the name of The Master of Lake Town I said halt!" the guard shouts over as he walks towards us.<br>I grab Bilbo my the shoulder and pull him until he's in front of me, following the dwarves.  
>"Stop him!"<br>"Oi, come here" another guard says as he comes to see what all the commotion is.  
>Thorin stops holding everyone up, bumping into each other "Get back!"<br>We all turn around and see another guard coming  
>Dori hits one of the guards with a broom handle causing the man to fall backwards over Bombur who is on all fours behind the guard. Dori trips another guard who falls face first into a beam. Balin and Thorin deal with another as Fili and Kili trip a fourth guard, who<br>Ori hits the guard who fell over bombur, knocking him out.  
>Nori knocks out the one Fili and Kili tripped<br>And Dwalin knocks out one of the others. Soon the guards have all been knocked out.  
>"Hide" Bard says to us as another group of guards comes to see what all the fuss is about.<br>"What's going on here?" From what I can see he must be the captain of the guards? Just an asumption though.  
>Bilbo and I hide behind a few crates.<br>"Stay where you are, nobody leaves"

Bard walks down the allyway. "Bragga," he says rather cheerfully "Surrey" he says greeting another guard.  
>"You. What are you up to, Bard?"<br>"Me? Nothing" Bard replies. One of the guards start to come around and one of the townsfolk drop a plant pot on his head. I look at her amused and she looks at me grinning a little as she puts another plant pot down as another woman puts a crate of fishing nets down, to hide the knocked out guards as this captain looks to see what the noise was.  
>"Hey Bragga, your wife would look lovely in this" Bard says, I peek around the side to see what Bard is talking about and I put my hand over my mouth to contain a chuckle.<br>"What do you know of my wife?" The captain asks in a quiet tone, seemingly feeling all authority has slipped away from his grasp,.  
>"I know her as well as any man in this town" he says shrugging slightly.<br>This Bragge grabs the clothing item off Bard and dumps it back where Bard must have gotten it from and storms off, his guards following him. He then looks relieved and head back towards us.

"Come on" he says leading us down the back allies "Stay close"  
>"Da! Our house. It's being watched." A young lad says coming up to Bard. That must be Bain, he's got his fathers baring, that's for sure.<p>

Bard looks at Thorin as he thinks of what to do.  
>"Here is what you're going to do, you're going to follow us under the walkway, when we get to the house Bain here will let you know when to come in, he'll knock three times" Bard says.<p>

We do as planned, swimming below the wooden walkway following Bard and Bain until we get to the base of the house where there is only one gap to get up.  
>"Is that a, is that a toilet?" I hear Bofur ask looking around in disbelief<br>"I don't believe it, we're climbing through a toilet?" and I thought fish crammed barrels was bad...  
>"Be quiet" Thorin says waiting for the signal.<p>

We hear the knock and Dwalin climbs through first.  
>"If you speak of this to anyone, I'll rip your arms off." Dwalin says to, presumably, Bain.<br>Dwalin raises the seat and begins to pull himself out of the toilet.  
>"Get off."<br>"Up there."

Bain points up the stairs, and Dwalin goes up. I follow Dwalin and Bilbo follows me. Bilbo pokes his head up through the toilet, looking flabbergasted, and Bain helps him out. We all go upstairs to where Bard's two daughters look confused. The rest of the dwarves follow and head upstairs.]

"Da...why are there dwarves climbing out of our toilet?" his eldest asks  
>"Will they bring us luck?"<p>

I walk over to Bard as I look around. "This is a cosy little place you have got here" I say smiling  
>"Chase these are my daughters" he introduces as I turn around and see them.<br>"You don't look like what I've heard about female dwarves, where's your beard?" Tilda asks looking at me confused  
>"Tilda" Sigrid says in a scolding manner to her sister she looks at me and appologises while handing out blankets.<br>"It's quite alright" I say smiling, I look at tilda "Well, Tilda, you see I'm not actually a dwarf" I say  
>"You're not?" She asks interested<br>"I'm only half dwarf"  
>"If you're only half dwarf what else are you?" she asks quizzically<br>"I'm half elf, see" I say showing her my slightly pointed ears.  
>"Da, can we keep them?" she asks smiling, looking around at her father.<br>I chuckle and look at Bard, he's smiling amused.

.::.

I hope you like this chapter, and for Silvern Shine I have added a bit of Thorin/Chase, without changing their characters too much, I hope you liked it, even though it was just a little bit, for now. More will come in later chapters, that I promise.

Thank you to my reviewers, your comments have given me a much needed boost to write, it's always nice to hear that people enjoy what you have spent time on. To my readers; Sorry for my slow updates a lot of the time I keep getting distracted with 3D work, I'm trying to create a 3D dragon, and I may also try to create Smaug, so yeah, 3D work is taking up a lot of my time.


	26. Homeward Bound

I shiver a little and pull the blanket around me a little more, the cold is bearable but I would like to not be cold as soon as possible. Some of our clothing items are in front of the fire drying from our little swim in the lake so that we were not seen by any more guards, of the spies that Bain mentioned.

"It may not be the best fit, but they'll keep you warm." Bard says as Sigrid passes out spare clothes and more blankets.

Bilbo thanks her when he receives one. I look over to him and notice that he's shivering. I look down at myself holding the blanket around myself and since I'm not too cold I take it off and put the warm blanket around Bilbo's back and shoulders. He looks at me surprised before starting to protest.  
>"No. I-" I shake my head before he can finish what he's starting to say.<br>"You're shivering. And I don't feel the cold very much, it's a dwarf thing" I say softly smiling.  
>Bard is stirring a stew that Sigrid had put on for us at her fathers request. After she hands out all the clothes and blankets she goes into the kitchen and gets bowls and spoons ready for when the food is cooked.<p>

It's not long before it is cooked and she starts handing out bowls. Bilbo and I thank her ash she hands us a bowl and some bread, Bilbo tucks right in, grateful for something hot in his stomach. I can't help but look around at them and remember what Bard has said to Alfrid that food is scarce. They are sharing what little they have with us, Bard may have been reluctant to help at first but he is showing us every kindness he can.

We quietly eat our bread and stew and when few have finished Sigrid and Bard go around starting to collect the bowls. I stand up and take Bilbo's empty bowl and a few others closer to me. And follow Sigrid and Bard to the kitchen sink.  
>"Allow me? You've done more than enough for us, at least let me do one thing in return" I say to Sigrid, she looks at her father and he looks at me for a moment before nodding to his daughter. I nod at Bard "Thank you for all the help. You didn't have to do all this for us, yet you are." I say as I start to wash the bowls.<br>He looks away a little for a moment "My wife used to say that if you carry out random acts of kindness one day someone might do the same for you, but even if they don't you were still kind enough to think of others before yourself and that makes you a better person" he says softly, now looking back to me and smiling a little. I can't help but just look at him thoughtfully. Eventually I respond.  
>"No one can doubt that you are a good man, a far better man than the one who is in charge of this town, If that Alfrid is anything to go by that is."<br>He chuckles a little. "As far as Alfrid and The Master go you have gotten that right " I finish up the dishes and dry them. I ask where to put them and Bard opens a cupboard and takes the dishes off me

"A Dwarvish Wind-Lance." I hear Thorin say from in the other room. I only heard because of my elvish hearing, it was said quite quietly. I walk into the other room curiously to see Thorin looking out of the window which is open a jar, as soon as I look I can also see it. Bilbo, who is sipping a hot drink from a wooden mug, looks out of the window also.

"You look like you've seen a ghost." Bilbo says because of the expression on Thorin's face, which I only see as I move closer to them.  
>"He has. The last time we saw such a weapon, a city was on fire. It was the day the dragon came."<br>Thorin looks away remembering the day as clear as if it was yesterday. "The day that Smaug destroyed Dale. Girion, the Lord of the city, rallied his bowman to fire upon the beast." I hear Bard enter the room from the kitchen "But a dragon's hide is tough, tougher than the strongest armor. Only a black arrow, fired from a wind-lance, could have pierced the dragon's hide, and few of those arrows were ever made. His store was running low when Girion made his last stand."

"Had the aim of Men been true that day, much would have been different." Thorin says. This comment irritates me a little, he blames everyone but dwarves for what happened at Erebor. But also how can he not? Elves didn't help, men couldn't kill the dragon, so Erebor was lost. Men and Dwarves died. But hatreds held for so long often fester.

"You speak as if you were there." Bard says noting the anger in his voice  
>"All dwarves know the tale." Thorin replies simply<br>"Then you would know that Girion hit the dragon. He loosened a scale under the left wing. One more shot and he would have killed the beast." Bain says very defensively then looks to his father. Bard doesn't react.

"Ha ha ha! That's a fairy story, lad. Nothing more." Dwalin says

"You took our money. Where are the weapons?" Thorin asks as he walks towards Bard.  
>"Wait here." Bard says before leaving the main living area.<p>

I walk over to Bain as Fili and Kili move towards Thorin.  
>"Bain, this, tell me about this scale?" I ask as we walk away from the group of dwarves.<br>"Why? You won't believe me, none of the others do I saw it in the looks on their faces, but I know what I know. The others just see me as a boy with my head in the clouds" he replies  
>"Do you think I would be asking you about it if I thought that?" He looks at me for a moment before looking towards where his father went.<br>"My father doesn't want me to talk about it, but. In the stories. Just before Girion died while trying to kill the dragon he shot a black arrow at the dragon's chest removing a scale. If he had been able to fire one more shot he would have killed it. I know it" I nod and look away in thought, if this story is true, maybe we have a chance to kill the dragon, not just to retrieve the Arkenstone. I hear raised voices back in the other room and I hear Gloin's voice first "We paid you for weapons. Iron-forged swords and axes!"  
>"It's a joke!" I then here Bofur say. I turn around and walk back into the other room and I see them all looking at makeshift weapons distastefully.<p>

"You won't find better outside the city armoury. All iron-forged weapons are held there under lock and key." Bard states to the disorderly bunch in front of him. I notice Bilbo sitting off to one side and go and sit next to him.  
>"Chase, where have you been?" He asks surprised<br>"I was having a word with Bard's son about this loose scale story, it's one I have never heard before. If it's true, we may be able to kill the dragon and regain Erebor, hopefully without waking him up."

I look back to the company as Balin tries to reason with Thorin.

"Why not take what's been offered and go? I've made do with less; so have you. I say we leave now."

"You're not going anywhere." Bard states firmly, his offer of help was rejected rudely and there are spies watching his house so he's looking out for his family.

"What did you say!?" Dwalin says striding over to him.

"There's spies watching this house and probably every dock and wharf in the town. You must wait till nightfall." I forgot the others probably wouldn't have heard that about the spies when Bain mentioned it. I only heard because I have better hearing than the average dwarf.

The company settle down after hearing about the spies and Bard wraps up the weapons and takes them back to where he got them.  
>I cross my arms on the table and flop my head down. I hope we haven't gotten Bard into trouble, and knowing how stubborn Thorin is I hope he doesn't think of something that could get Bard into trouble. Being in the company has just given me more to worry and think about. When I was on my own I never had to look out for anyone other than Fealof and myself. If I could go back to the start of this journey I wouldn't change any of it. Well, maybe a few things, but who wouldn't if they could. I chuckle to myself and sit up. Bilbo looks at me amused but questioningly.<br>"What's so funny?" he asks smiling  
>"I'm just thinking back to when this quest started and how different we all were. Now look at us" I say smiling<br>"Freezing cold and soaked while out on a quest compared to warm and cosy with book about someone doing the same kind of thing?" he jests  
>I laugh a little "Yes, exactly that. Who would have known how different we would have been?" I say softly. I see Bard with the corner of my eye, causing me to look towards him.<br>"I agree, It's hard to think of myself as the same Hobbit any more." he says thoughtfully.  
>"Aye. I concur" I say nodding and looking back to Bilbo smiling softly. We sit there quietly and I find myself looking over at Thorin not really concentrating. I realise he's looking at me too and I look away slowly, but I glance back and he has looked away.<br>"What happened between you two?" Bilbo asks. I look at him surprised and he looks at Thorin. "Between you and Thorin" he says looking back to me "It seems like you were close, but then... Something happened" he says quizzically.  
>I nod. "Yeah, you could say that..." I say quietly. He must notice that I do not really want to talk about it right now because he leaves it at that.<p>

"I'm going to go and find out what we're going to do, it looks like they have an idea" The Hobbit says standing up and walking over to an unsure looking Bailn who is standing with Thorin and Dwalin who have just called Fili and Kili over to them.

I sit there following the wood patterns in the table with my finger. I don't register someone sitting next to me until they speak.  
>"You look deep in thought, what is bothering you?"<br>I jump as I hear Thorin's voice. I look at him surprised and breath out.  
>"Forgive me, I did not mean to startle you."<p>

"It's not a problem, what are we doing, I'm guessing there's a plan?" I say as I regain my composure.  
>"There is a plan but I would rather discuss what is on your mind first" he says.<br>I look around the room feeling a little bit awkward and I notice it's actually quite dull and a few candles have been lit, I must have been daydreaming for a few hours at least, which surprises me, but of what I don't recall. I finally look back to him but I can't help but keep looking elsewhere. We have not spoken properly for years, I wouldn't even know how to start. We've been being civil but we've not really had much opportunity to talk. So I start with the first feeling that I register. Disbelief.

"Just being this close to the mountain again after so long, it doesn't feel real, it's like one of the dreams I used to have, but after a while those dreams of home stopped, and all thoughts of returning faded into all but an ember. But always longing for somewhere to call my home again but never finding anywhere. So I became a tavern crawler, I've drank in probably all taverns all over the map" I chuckle a little "I used to be happy with that thought, the summit of my achievements." I say smiling, but my smile soon fades as I get serious "But when Gandalf came to me about coming on a quest to try and reclaim Erebor, a quest that could kill me or where I get to see home again, I couldn't refuse, how could I pass up the opportunity to return? Whether we were to fail or not, whether we do succeed, or die trying, at least either way there will be no more longing for a home. Many times I thought about leaving, sometimes I almost did, but something always stopped me from going through with it. Something other than my promise to Bilbo" I am able to look at him without looking away. He's looking at me listening intently to every word I say "I think the best way to explain it is: If I gave up on this I would never forgive myself, if I didn't even start this journey then it feels as though the embers will just go out and I would be a hollow shell. Just a wandering drunk with no purpose." I say quietly "But now we're this close" I start to raise my voice a little "That was the spark needed to get the fire burning again. We will retake" I say the last part mostly to myself as I look away towards the fire

"I can see that this has been on your mind for a long time..." he goes quiet for a moment. "Chase, you have no idea how much I regret what I did to you and your parents-" He starts  
>"Thorin... I forgave you a long time ago, believe it or not. You had your reasons. We can't change the past, we can't see the future, but we can decide what to do in the present. You have to let that go." I say quietly still looking at the fire.<br>"And What if I can not?" He asks causing me to look at him  
>There's nothing else to say so we just stare at each other, I don't know if I am imagining it or not but he seems to be leaning closer slowly.<br>"Thorin." Dwalin says suddenly as he turns the corner from the main doorway causing us to look at him. "We should go" he states looking between us for a moment before he speaks.  
>"Go?" I ask looking between the two of them.<br>"I will explain on the way." he says to me as he stands up "Come on" he says to everyone who immediately stand up and follow unquestionably.  
>"Wait, where are you going? You can't go" Bain says to try and stop the stubborn dwarves. I stop in front of him and look at him apologetically.<br>"Whatever they are going to do this will not come back to cause problems for you, your sisters and your father, I promise" I state before following after the dwarves.

.::.

Firstly sorry for the long wait for an update, my internet stopped working when I was going to update. The last part of this chapter was quite difficult for me to write, I was really unsure how to do it, so I hope it's alright, I'm sorry if it's not up to my usually standards, I mean I know it's shorter than my last few chapters.  
>I've also been working on a future movie script (Unofficially) for Dragonheart 4, I recently watched the third one and I was very disappointed, any of you guys watched the original or the second Dragonheart?<br>But I have also been working on my 3D Smaug, if anyone wants to check it out it's on this page: /RyderCreations  
>And do I have any Supernatural fans reading this story? I'm also creating a 3D 67 Impala for a SPN fan fiction I will possibly be writing in the future.<br>If you want to keep updated on what I'm doing then my Facebook page is the best place to be. It's got all the stories I'm considering writing and updates on my stories, including polls that I may put up for your opinions on ideas and general story related posts, such as character images etc. Not many of those up at the moment really, if any. But at least check it out please? Just go to this link: /AshleysFanFictions  
>I may even get Twitter, if I did that would anyone follow?<p> 


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